Where the Winds Go
by Lotus23
Summary: Hiccup left after coming first in Dragon Training. Unwilling to kill the Nightmare in the arena, he fled Berk with Toothless and left his village behind. AU, Hiccstrid, other pairings will make an appearance. For e-wills and Monty Oum.
1. Loss

For two that I hold in the highest esteem: E-Wills, and Monty Oum. I love and miss you both so much.

Disclaimer: Thank heavens I don't own HTTYD, seriously; the stories would have been so much worse with me at the helm.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Loss**

Stoick the Vast opened his eyes as the first tentative rays of sunlight peeped trough the shutters, heralding the unwelcome morning's arrival. Normally, he would be up and about already, tending to the never ending needs of the village, but not today. He couldn't handle his normal duties today, yet he would have to perform them and more. After all, a chief's duty is to his people first. He steeled himself to face the obligations he knew he was not ready to fulfill.

 _For Berk, for your fathers_ he repeated to himself, appending the newest addition to his mantra with a heavy heart: _for Hiccup._

The house was oddly still as he dressed himself. The morning was never a busy time, but the past couple of weeks had brought a blanket of unnatural silence over his hall. No fire crackling merrily in the hearth, no welcoming smell of a warm breakfast, just a cold emptiness that leeched at the bones with much more ferocity than any winter's chill. Stoick shook his head in a vain attempt to clear the negative thoughts clouding his mind. The chill cold seemed worse today, though he supposed there was good enough reason for that. Even as a Viking, it's not every day that you have to bury one of your own.

 _For Berk, for your fathers, for Hiccup._

Repeating himself once more he set his jaw, and opened the door to the outside, not feeling the bitter morning air as once he might have done.

* * *

 _"Astrid, go! I'll hold him off, just run!" Hiccup yelled, placing himself between the angry Night Fury and Astrid._

 _Astrid rolled to the side and grabbed her axe, standing and ready to strike. "No way! We're both getting out of this, now move!"_

 _Hiccup dove at her as the Night Fury lunged and narrowly missed him, knocking her to the ground. She heard a strangely muffled crack, felt a pain in the back of her head, and the world went dark._

Astrid awoke screaming into her bed. Her body covered in a thin sheen of sweat as it contorted with the fears of the constant nightmares. She screwed her eyes shut and strove to calm her frantic breathing.

 _You are a warrior, Astrid, pull yourself together!_ Even in the private confines of her mind the words sounded token and hollow. She was no warrior, not anymore. What warrior couldn't sleep due to their dreams? What warrior would tear up when they looked at their weapon?

Forcing herself to sit up she heard the sounds of a village coming to life. Today of all days she had to make an effort, she had to try and hold it all in and appear strong. Gritting her teeth, she rose, and began to prepare for the day.

Astrid could smell the food that was being prepared for her as she dressed herself. It was her mother's stew, something that should bring comfort and warmth. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably, whether from hunger, guilt, shame, or any of the myriad of feelings currently swimming through her mind she could not tell. Regardless of its cause, she knew that she would be unable to bring herself to eat this morning. After all, even as a Viking, it's not every day that you have to bury someone you failed to save.

She slipped past her parents and out the door as quickly and quietly as she could manage, making her way somewhat aimlessly around the village. Lost in her thoughts, she fell into the routine she had stuck to for many weeks prior, and found herself at the doors of the arena. The place was silent but for the occasional scratching sound or irritated vocalization of the scaly inhabitants. Astrid looked down at the doors of the Deadly Nightmare's cell and clenched her fist.

 _This wasn't how it was supposed to happen._ Astrid thought. _That monster's head should be on a pike, whether by her hand or- no. Do not say his name._

Taking a few moments to breathe, she turned around and headed back towards the village. The sun was free of the horizon now; the ceremony would be starting soon.

* * *

The village of Berk was a hardy place, built to withstand anything the world could throw at it. The Hairy Hooligans had weathered many a storm, dragon attack, and winter by being as tough and stubborn as the rocks that made up their home. The typical morning would have good natured insults, various thrown objects of suspect nature, and a general feeling of camaraderie that came from fighting against your neighbor over something trivial one second, and fighting alongside them the next.

This was not one such morning, however. A somber atmosphere pervaded the island, what few people ventured out to take care of morning duties did so with slumped shoulders and downcast eyes. Most of those who could get away with staying in did so. Even as Vikings, it's not every day you have to bury the son of the Chief.

* * *

The designated hilltop was one of Hiccup's frequented spots. It was bathed in the orange glow of the dawn sun, and looked out over the harbor and out to sea. It was hardly traditional to bury someone on land in a place that was not among their fallen kin, especially with no actual remains to bury, but nobody had argued after Mildew had lost several of his few remaining teeth to Stoick's grief.

The grave marker was fairly simple as far as graves went, a small pile of rocks with a slab at the top that Gobber had spent all of his free time creating. Carved into the slab were delicate runes, immortalizing the words:

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

Son of Stoick the Vast

Fallen before his time, a Hero

* * *

Astrid stood resolutely stiff as Stoick gave an emotionally charged speech about 'his boy,' and how he was stolen from the village by the cruelty of the dragon menace. Every time Stoick mentioned Hiccup's final deeds, his gaze would find Astrid and linger pointedly, and she would look away as the gnawing in her stomach returned with a vengeance. She knew that Stoick resented her for the part she played in Hic- his son's death. She deserved that resentment, and probably a whole lot more. She had failed as a warrior, returning from the woods with nothing to show for her battle with the Night Fury but a half melted axe, a concussion, and news of his death. She didn't deserve to be alive in his place.

The other members of her dragon training class stood behind Astrid with solemn looks on all of their faces, even Snotlout. Ruffnut had placed a hand on Astrid's shoulder the second she arrived at the hilltop, and hadn't let go, even after multiple, albeit feeble, attempts to shake her off. Ruffnut had been a near constant companion to Astrid the last couple weeks, insisting that it wasn't her fault, that there was nothing she could have done against a dragon of that caliber. Astrid knew Ruffnut was trying to help, and she appreciated that… didn't mean that she was right though, there is always something that could have been done differently.

The ceremony was short, followed by many of the villagers hiking up to the great hall to toast Hic- his memory and compose awful poems about him. Astrid remained on the hill a while longer, waving off Ruffnut who seemed determined to stay attached to her for the rest of their lives. Astrid watching Gobber and Stoick as they knelt at the side of the grave and shared a moment of further silence. She held herself and looked away, reminding herself that she did not deserve to be a witness to such a private moment.

Gobber stood first, gripping Stoick's shoulder before stumbling off towards the hall to partake in an unhealthy amount of mead, nodding to Astrid as he passed.

Stoick took the small toy axe that he had asked Gobber to make for Hiccup when he was young and placed it among the gravestones before standing. He took a long breath, and turned to face Astrid.

"No parent should ever have to bury their child," Stoick whispered, just loud enough so that Astrid could hear.

She flinched as though she had been slapped, the accusation veiled behind his words slamming into her chest and tearing at the wound anew. She stayed silent as Stoick left the site, the pain apparent in his features as he set about doing the duties of the chief with none of the usual energy.

Slowly making her way to the small burial mound, Astrid let the tears begin to fall. Sure, she hadn't paid a whole lot of attention to the heir, but that was before dragon training. Before he demonstrated his uncanny, infuriating talent with the beasts and moved to the top of the dragon training class. Before she'd followed him into the forest, and he had saved her life. She knelt at the site and allowed herself to weep softly.

"I'm sorry, Hi-" she choked on his name, unable to bring herself to say it. "I'm so sorry. I should have been faster. I should have been stronger. I should have…" She didn't know what she should have done. She had failed her duty as a warrior, to her chief and her tribe, and he had sacrificed himself because of her weakness.

* * *

Hiccup looked out over the ocean, the dawn light making the waves appear as molten gold. The morning air was frigid, and the sun did little to alleviate the cold, but he didn't pay the temperatures much heed.

Toothless warbled, snapping Hiccup out of his reverie, and reminding him that they should really find an island to set down on. He leaned down to pat the side of the reptile's neck, "I know, bud, we'll set down soon."

Sitting up again to scan their surroundings for any sort of land, Hiccup began to think again, a dangerous pastime. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do now. He didn't have a home anymore, not one that wanted him for the real him, so, now what?

Spotting a small island, Hiccup adjusted the pedal and began to steer Toothless towards it. "There we are. Home sweet home… for a few hours anyway."

Toothless nodded in that peculiar way that makes it seem like he understands absolutely everything, and sped off towards the small drop of land. As they flew closer, Hiccup could see a small grove of what looked like fruit-bearing plants clinging to the lump of rock for dear life. He whooped and threw his hands up into the air, a smile gracing his features for the first time in weeks.

"Hmm, silver lining, eh, Toothless?" Hiccup whispered, leaning down to give the dragon another affectionate scratch. "I bet nobody has ever tried them. I wonder what they taste like?"

Toothless slowed their descent and landed gracefully on the island, crouching down to let Hiccup clamber oh-so-gracefully off of his saddle. Hiccup immediately got his food caught in part of the harness and fell flat on his face, causing Toothless to roll onto his back and proceed to laugh uproariously.

Spitting dirt out of his mouth, Hiccup stood and grumbled "Oh yes, hilarious. Hiccup can't even walk right, can he?" He flicked his friend's nose and the ghost of a smile snuck its way onto his face for the second time that day. "Oh fine, I forgive you. But only because you'd leave me here if I didn't."

Toothless made a face that dripped sarcasm before pouncing Hiccup and giving him an enthusiastic licking.

"Kidding, kidding!" Hiccup cried out as he tried to fend off the barrage of dragon. "Argh, come on, bud, you know that's just gross. I just hope it washes out, for your sake."

Hiccup extricated himself from Toothless' playful claws only when the dragon was satisfied with just how slicked over his hair was. He brushed himself off in an attempt to remove some of the saliva, flicking a little bit at Toothless for good measure, before looking around.

The island was mostly rock, with small patches of dirt and grass here and there. Off to the side there was an outcropping with what looked to be a small cave at its base. In the outcropping's lee was the small grove of plants that bore a small, purple fruit.

"You know," Hiccup remarked to nobody in particular, "we really ought to start mapping out the things we find." He set off, dragon in tow, to make a more thorough inspection of the island.

* * *

A/N: A huge thank you to my good friend Luna1100 on Tumblr for being my beta for this. Probably wouldn't have posted it without you.

Please send any and all constructive criticism, I've no idea what I'm doing, so


	2. Spark

For two that I hold in the highest esteem: E-Wills, and Monty Oum. I love and miss you both so much.

Disclaimer: Thank heavens I don't own HTTYD, seriously; the stories would have been so much worse with me at the helm.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Spark**

Astrid awoke to the sounds of bestial roars and battle. A raid. Shaking her head in an effort to chase the fog of sleep from her mind, she automatically reached for her axe. Grabbing hold of her prized weapon something felt wrong. Looking down, she remembered with dismay that her once beautiful axe had been half-melted and mangled by that Night Fury. Three weeks after the funeral, and she hadn't been able to bring herself to go near the forge to ask Gobber to make her a new one. With the sounds of combat growing ever louder, she growled and placed the remains of her axe back on its old hooks and sprinted out the door, weaponless.

The torches were in the process of being raised, giving the Viking warriors below a better view of the dragon horde above. Acrid smoke rose from the couple of already burning houses, and Stoick could be heard bellowing orders, even over the fray.

Astrid hauled out one of the water barrels and its compliment of buckets, being swiftly joined by Fishlegs and the twins.

Ruffnut's face split into a grin upon seeing Astrid. "Well hey there, princess. Nice night for a stroll, ain't it?"

"Call me 'princess' again, and that stroll will end with you in the ocean." Astrid forced a smile in return and emptied her half-full bucket of water over the other girl's head.

Ruffnut cackled and clapped her hand on Astrid's back. "That's the spirit. Now come on. As much as I adore the fires, we really should put 'em out."

Tuffnut groaned as he filled his own bucket. "But the fire is so pretty! Can't we leave it just for a bit longer?" he complained loudly as he ran off to deal with a small blaze threatening a torch's base.

Astrid shook her head and ran off towards the nearest burning building, water bucket in hand. Normally, as a graduate of a dragon training class, she'd be helping the rest of the tribe as a warrior, rather than a child. But she wasn't a warrior. She hated the dragons as much as any other Hooligan, but she'd failed when it really mattered. She didn't have a weapon, anyway. Her axe had been a treasure of hers, perfectly weighted for her, she'd had it for years… and now it was scrap.

Astrid zoned out the sounds of Vikings and dragons, focusing only on her own thoughts, and the task at hand. Fill bucket, run to fire, empty bucket over fire, run back to water barrel. Rinse and repeat.

* * *

It wasn't until Astrid was nearly bowled over by a Monstrous Nightmare that she came out of her reverie. With a startled yelp she dove out of the rampaging beast's way as it gave a roar and snapped at her. She rolled to her feet and jumped back, instinctively looking around for any kind of weapon as the Nightmare ignited itself and smashed its way into the nearest house. Astrid's heart jumped as terrified screams suddenly split the air.

"Don't worry, baby, I got this guy!" Called an irritatingly familiar voice. Its owner came running from the same direction as the Nightmare had, sporting a slightly-too-big hammer and a self-assured grin. "Snotlout's here to save the day!"

Astrid almost gagged as Snotlout charged forward with reckless abandon. Her mouth twisted into a disgusted grimace, she resumed her search for a weapon. Her eyes settled on a discarded spear. Not the weapon of choice, but it would do.

Breaking into a run she made for the spear, spurred on by the screams of the house's inhabitants. She grabbed the haft and turned on her heel, preparing to throw it or charge as was needed. Snotlout had actually managed to get the Nightmare out of the house and chasing him. He'd get a hit in and then run for his life from the progressively more ticked off dragon. That was when she heard it.

An unmistakable high-pitched keening pierced the night. Astrid's skin began to crawl as she gripped the spear a toxic mix of fear and rage. _Night Fury._

Looking up to the sky she trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive dragon, all thoughts of anything other than a burning desire for revenge fleeing her mind. The sound of a Night Fury blast rang out, seemingly aimed down into the village. For a split-second she saw the beast flying low over burning buildings, and then it was gone.

Running towards the village center, Astrid heard the sound again. The purple ball of fire came out of nowhere and slammed into the ground, narrowly missing a sword-toting warrior who was about to finish off a downed Nadder. The Nadder squawked in alarm and scrambled to its feet before taking off into the darkness.

Astrid gripped her spear in frustration as another Night Fury shot hit a warrior's shield dead center, knocking him off his feet and letting the Zippleback he was forcing into a net make a break for it. _I'm never going to get a fight with it like this…_

The wall to Astrid's right exploded as a Nightmare wreathed in flame smashed a warrior through it with an enraged growl. Astrid covered her face as flaming debris flew around her, the frozen ground coming up to meet her. She rolled to the side and leapt to her feet. She could feel the heat radiating off the creature as she advanced, holding the spear out in an attempt to get its attention off of the fallen Viking. With a cry she charged, forcing the Nightmare a couple of steps back to avoid the tip of her spear.

The beast's eyes narrowed and focused on the spear, taking a few more steps back as it cast a calculating gaze over her and the other warrior who had gotten to his feet.

"Hey, I've totally got it, just took me by surprise is all." Astrid sighed internally as the warrior spoke, realizing it was Snotlout who she was protecting. The idiotic boy tried to push her out of the way, giving the dragon an opportunity to spray a stream of fire towards them. Astrid dodged and Snotlout braced his shield. Stamping out her flaming boot, she turned to see Snotlout once again hitting the ground. He squirmed as the Nightmare pinned him to the dirt by his flaming shield.

Annoying as he was, Astrid wasn't about to let him be roasted for his stupidity. She changed her grip on the spear and threw it at the Nightmare. The weapon sunk into its shoulder, causing it to cry out in pain and slink back, glaring at her. Wasting no time, she ran forward, ducking another stream of fire and grabbing Snotlout's discarded hammer.

Astrid began taking swipes at the injured dragon, scoring a couple solid hits and managing to knock it to its stomach. However, before she could land a finishing blow, the accursed sound of a Night Fury shot rang out close by. Jumping away from the downed Nightmare, the fireball hit to the left of where she had just been. Seeing its exit opportunity, the dragon scrambled up the remains of the wall it had smashed through and pulled the spear out of its shoulder with its teeth before taking off.

Taking a deep breath, Astrid growled in frustration before the pieces fell into place. _The other dragons, it's protecting them. That's how I can force it to show itself._ She threw the hammer down next to Snotlout and ran off in the direction of the forge. Screw scavenging during the raids. She needed an axe.

* * *

Steeling herself as she weaved her way between buildings, Astrid let her anger combat her guilt and shame. _If I can avenge him, then I can start atoning for my failure at the cove_. She ducked as a Night Fury shot splintered the corner of a house, scaring off the Zippleback that was in the process of pouring gas into the structure. With a growl, she resumed running in the direction of the forge. _Blasted Night Fury. I can't save… Hiccup, but I_ can _destroy you. This time will be different. This time, for sure_.

Astrid could see Gobber hard at work, repairing weapons as fast as he could manage on his own. There was no playful banter, just work. She still felt uneasy approaching the building, but she had to. She needed a weapon she could wield as an extension of her arm if she was going to take down that Night Fury.

Clearing her throat, Astrid called out as she ran up to the little customer window "Gobber! I need an axe, what do you have on hand?"

Gobber looked up from hammering something that may have once been a sword with the ghost of a smile. "Ah, was wonderin' when you would come 'round, lass." Placing the deep red hunk of metal back into the forge, he shuffled off to the back room of the shop. "I've got jus' tha' thing, you're in luck."

Before Astrid could ask what he meant, he had returned. In his callused hands was an axe that stole her breath away. The double-headed weapon shone in the light of the forge; the metal's surface appearing as if it had a life of its own. The faces of each blade were engraved with intricate patterns that twisted and turned, forming half-glimpsed images that vanished in the blink of an eye. Securing the axe head were strips of metal that seemed to fuse with the wooden handle, along which the engravings flowed like a tapestry. The pattern continued all the way along the ovate handle, burned into the polished wood.

"This is… y'know, Hiccup's work. Had real talent in the forge, he did…" Gobber seemed to lose himself for a second before blinking and reverently handing the weapon to Astrid. "It's yours. Now go on, make 'im proud and put tha' to good use." He turned quickly, resuming his normal repair work.

* * *

Astrid took the axe with a sense of disbelief, her eyes poring over the beautiful weapon in wonder. She realized her mouth was hanging open and slammed it shut. Unable to think of anything to say, she stuttered out a thank you and ran back out into the chaos that was engulfing the village.

 _Hiccup… made me an axe?_ She shook her head and tried to focus. _No, think about that later. Hunt down that Night Fury now_. Grabbing a nearby rope, she scanned the area for a grounded dragon that she could use to bait the Night Fury into showing itself.

Astrid lashed the bright blue Nadder to the base of one of the torches, clamping the creature's mouth closed and forcing its head down into the dirt. Tying off the rope, she looked skyward, not having heard the telltale sound of the Night Fury for some time. She knew the raid was drawing to a close; many of the dragons had already flown off with their bounty of livestock.

Holding the razor sharp blade of her axe at the throat of the struggling Nadder she called out into the night sky with barely contained fury and no small amount of apprehension. "Come on out, Night Fury! I know you're still there, you wouldn't leave one of your own down here to die like this, would you?!"

Her challenge was greeted with silence, the sounds of battle between Viking and dragon quieting down as more dragons flew back to whatever hel-spawned pit they came from. The Nadder made a noise that was somewhere between a squawk and a whimper as its yellow eyes darting around in panic. Astrid scowled and flicked the side of the dragon's head with the flat of her axe.

The reaction was immediate. The high-pitched whistle pierced the night once more, and Astrid instinctively ducked. This time however, there was no well-aimed ball of fire. Instead, when she looked up she saw the midnight black dragon pulling out of a dive and circling around the torch, looking down at her. Gripping her axe tighter, and scowled at the creature as it slowly circled the torch. Other Viking warriors began yelling and trying to bring it down with various thrown objects.

The Night Fury evaded every attempt with what could only be described as lazy movements. It was then that Astrid saw something that she wouldn't have believed if it weren't right in front of her.

The dragon had a _rider_.

* * *

A/N: A huge thank you to my good friend Luna1100 on Tumblr for being my beta for this. Probably wouldn't have posted it without you.

Please send any and all constructive criticism, I've no idea what I'm doing, so

Thank you to both reviewers, and everyone who followed, favorited, or read. Thank you very much :)


	3. Drive

For two that I hold in the highest esteem: E-Wills, and Monty Oum. I love and miss you both so much.

Disclaimer: Thank heavens I don't own HTTYD, seriously; the stories would have been so much worse with me at the helm.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Drive**

Hiccup knew that he'd have to do something about the living situation, or rather, the lack thereof. He had been island hopping since he'd left Berk a couple weeks ago, and that was working… sort of. Berk was better off without Hiccup the Useless anyway. But he and Toothless had to find some manner of permanent accommodation. He couldn't live in a village in the Archipelago; being the son of Stoick the Vast he was too widely known, and that meant either venture out of the Archipelago, or find a deserted island.

Hiccup opened his eyes with a grumble, staring up at the underside of Toothless' wing. Smiling to himself, he gave the dragon's side a poke. "Come on, lazybutt. Wakey-wakey."

Toothless proceeded to roll on top of Hiccup, effectively pinning him to the semi-padded cave floor.

Struggling in vain to move, Hiccup gave a strangled laugh. "Blugh, Toothless, don't be like that." When the dragon remained motionless, Hiccup began scratching at his scales, causing satisfied noises suspiciously similar to purrs to permeate the small space. Grinning to himself, Hiccup squirreled his way out from under his friend and stood to stretch.

Toothless yawned and blinked a few times, standing and shaking himself down before giving Hiccup a questioning look.

"Yeah, I'm not really sure what to do either." With a sigh, Hiccup began packing up his bedroll. "We've got a few hours before dusk, you up for some fishing, bud?" He chuckled at the excited reply he received. "Alright, if you insist. Let's go."

Exiting the cave, Hiccup looked around at the island again. A peaceful little place, it had probably never been touched by warfare. _Wonder what that's like_. He shook his head and climbed into the saddle. "Off we go." He muttered, as he and Toothless took to the skies.

Of course, 'fishing' meant that Hiccup got very wet as Toothless dove under the waves again and again. There wasn't much of a way around it, so he took it in stride, only making the occasional wisecrack at Toothless' flying skills.

Even in the waning light, Toothless snagged plenty of fish for the two of them, despite his insistence that there were never enough fish. Stopping on a small wooded island, Hiccup made a small fire to cook his share. Toothless didn't get it, why take so much time to eat perfectly fine fish? Hiccup had tried that whole raw thing. Not for him. Bleh. Despite their different tastes, they ate in comfortable silence. Hiccup knew they had serious things to figure out, but for now there was nothing to do but enjoy one another's company. That was future-Hiccup's problem.

After their meal, Hiccup and Toothless flew towards a nearby village as the orange glow of dusk receded over the horizon. Hiccup knew he had to figure something out in terms of food, clothing, and other terribly important things. Fish were alright, and Toothless could provide plenty of them, but he knew that he would need other foodstuffs in order to survive.

"I'll probably need a mask or something too, huh bud?" Hiccup had gotten into the habit of bouncing ideas off of his friend. Sometimes it seemed like he understood perfectly, others…

Toothless made a small, non-committal noise, not showing much of a reaction at all.

"Well thank you for your contribution, really helped me out there." Hiccup grumbled and braced himself as Toothless tensed underneath him, waiting for the inevitable smack the dragon would dish out. After a few seconds of nothing, Hiccup opened his eyes and frowned. Looking around, he quickly understood Toothless' behavior.

The island they had been headed for was in flames. Plumes of dark smoke rose into the night sky, and winged shapes could be seen swarming around the little village.

Hiccup tightened his grip and made a snap decision. "Time to do something crazy." He muttered as he urged Toothless forward, towards the raid.

Toothless shot towards the village as only a Night Fury could. The rapidly cooling air buffeted Hiccup as they approached top speed. He could see much more of the village now; they were maybe thirty seconds away. A flash of polished metal caught his eye, and he could see a Viking warrior raising an axe to finish off a downed Nadder. _No, there has been enough blood on both sides. I have to stop this somehow!_

Gritting his teeth, Hiccup's eyes darted around the village, seeing similar scenes of violence and destruction everywhere he looked. The village was a small affair, maybe 10-15 smallish huts, and most of them were burning. He saw the light of an explosion just before he heard it, and watched as a fighting dragon and Viking pair were blasted apart and thrown in opposite directions by the fireball. _Bingo._

"Alright, Toothless, careful with your shots, okay?" Hiccup sent a quick prayer to the gods and steeled himself. "Try and hit near the fighting, see if we can break them up."

Toothless growled and opened his mouth. The signature sound of the 'dreaded' Night Fury pierced through the sounds of battle, and Toothless fired.

The bolt of fire flew towards the first warrior he'd seen just as he brought his axe down. The Nadder's blue scales growing dark around the axe blade as it's struggling ceased. Toothless' shot blasted clods of dirt into the air and the Viking ducked into cover.

A sound of anguish escaped Toothless and was echoed by Hiccup as they passed over the village. _Faster. Have to be faster._ Hiccup clicked the pedal and they banked hard, coming around for another pass. This time Toothless fired twice in quick succession. One fireball smashed part of a houses roof and frightened off the small flock of Terror's that were tearing it to pieces, the other smashed a Viking's hammer right out of his hand and sent him running to the side.

 _…It's working. It's working!_ Urged on by his success, Hiccup spotted a Gronckle making off with a sheep. "Come on, Toothless, you got this. Grab that sheep!"

With a practiced flick of his foot, Hiccup flipped them upside-down and Toothless snagged the hapless animal from the claws of a very confused Gronckle. "That's it! Night Fury one, Gronckle zero!" They banked once more, dropping the sheep a few feet and returned to the fray. _We can do this… I can be useful._ _They wouldn't listen to words and reason…_ Hiccup grinned to himself and leaned into the wind. _So we'll help them by force._

* * *

Hiccup coughed as Toothless flew right through a plume of smoke to dodge a well-thrown bola. His eyes stung as ash found its way though the slits in his leather helmet. He and Toothless had taken to arbitrating any raid they could throughout the Archipelago, and not all of them went well. This one was particularly nasty, though that was to be expected in anything having to do with the Bog Burglar tribe.

Hiccup growled and took Toothless into a climb. Rising high above the village he took a second so spot their next target. Most of the dragons had flown off with or without their prize; it was the few stragglers he was worrying about now. Right on cue, a Bog warrior rolled into view, wrestling a Nightmare with no weapons but her fists. The dragon looked ragged, and seemed to have already been lit and extinguished. It wouldn't last long.

Pointing the pair out to Toothless, he guided them into a dive. The high keen of Toothless' blast rang out, and the wrestling pair rolled right into the ensuing fireball. The Nightmare emerged seconds later and took off. Toothless banked and flew off to another side of the village before turning around again. Hiccup looked to where the pair had been, and the warrior was lying on the ground with a massive fresh burn on her lower left side. She was frantically trying to smother the small patches of flame that licked greedily at her.

Patting Toothless' neck, Hiccup gave him an encouraging scratch. "It's okay, she's alive and not too badly hurt."

Seeing that another dragon was making a beeline for the downed warrior, Toothless narrowed his eyes. With an irritated growl, he accelerated for another run. Hiccup knew that there were sometimes casualties no matter how hard they tried, especially on Bog. As the heat from another of Toothless' blasts washed over him, he watched the offending Nightmare rear back and turn tail to flee.

Flying up high for a dragons-eye view, Hiccup couldn't see any other incoming dragon threats. He turned Toothless around and high-tailed it out of there. The women of the Bog were not to be trifled with, especially while blatantly on dragon-back.

They headed for a small island nearby, just a big rock, really. Unhooking the harness, Hiccup slid off the saddle and leaned against Toothless. He thanked the gods that Toothless hadn't been hit as he pulled the arrow from his shoulder pad. It hadn't punched through the hardened hide, but it had bit hard enough to bruise and stay embedded throughout the raid. He'd have to acquire some more leather to repair it though, which meant a shopping trip to one of the trading ports down south.

His tired groan was met with a lick from Toothless. Pretending to be annoyed, he play-swatted at the dragon, prompting an immediate, if completely one-sided wrestling match.

After a few seconds, Hiccup surrendered with a chuckle. "You know you're only winning because I'm so tired, right? At my peak you wouldn't know what to do with all _this._ " He flexed his arms and made faces at the dragon that was currently pinning him to the rocky ground.

Toothless burst into that strange laughter of his and fell over backwards, releasing Hiccup from the pin.

"Hey!" Hiccup said with a mock pout. "It's not _that_ funny." Getting to his feet with some effort, Hiccup sighed. "Come on, bud. Let's go and get some sleep. With the pattern the raids have been in we'll have to fly even further north tomorrow."

With a shake, Toothless got to his feet as well and nuzzled up against his human. He gave a reassuring coo before readying himself for flight once again.

With a tired smile, Hiccup climbed into the saddle, and the pair took off into the night sky.

* * *

Hiccup let Toothless lead as the large pack of wild dragons flew toward their target, completely ignoring the pair. He had flown north in to fight in the next raid, and had found them leaving the mists of Helheim's Gate. They had camped in the northern area of the Archipelago for a couple days to catch the next raid, and here it was. Toothless had been sticking with the pack for a fair amount of time now, and Hiccup still had no real idea where they were. _I really should get started on that map…_ He stopped mid-thought as the dragons pulled up into the cloudbanks. They were getting close. Pulling his helmet over his face, he took a deep breath and froze.

In the distance he could see large promontories of rock carved in the likeness of Viking warriors with bonfires blazing in their mouths. Slightly behind the rock spires he could see many pinpricks of light revealing familiar houses.

 _This is Berk. They are raiding Berk._

Hiccup knew the dragons raided Berk. After all, he'd grown up disappointing his father during the raids. When he'd decided to fight in the raids, part of his mind had known he would end up flying over Berk. He had been willfully ignoring that part of his mind; it made good points that he didn't want to hear and was irritating in that respect.

Toothless followed the pack of dragons and slipped into the clouds. The frigid mist snapped Hiccup out of his semi-shocked state. Shaking his head, he leaned forward and urged Toothless on. _The Hooligans may not have accepted me, but Berk is still important. I can't just leave them to their continuous violence._ He could feel his blood rising, the adrenaline a raid beginning to kick in. _I have to help save them from themselves_.

The Nadder directly in front of them dove suddenly, and Toothless followed suit. Breaking out of the clouds, they pulled into a hover and Hiccup saw the marvel of the initial attack, though on a much larger scale than he'd seen before. The dragons didn't have much of a 'strategy' when raiding. For the most part it was charge in, grab food, smash stuff if provoked, and leave. But larger targets, such as the Meatheads or the Bog Burglars, they tended to wait for a few seconds before all rushing in at once.

With Berk, it was awe-inspiring. He'd never noticed the pattern from the ground, all they ever knew was the dragons showed up and there was a fight. From the air, he could see every dragon accelerating in at once, descending onto the unsuspecting village with claws outstretched.

For a second, there was silence. No sound but his own breathing against the chilled leather of his helmet and Toothless' wing beats. The fastest dragons managed to snag a sheep or two before the bellows of Viking horns split the night.

As Berkians began pouring from their houses weapons in hand, flames began to sprout up throughout the village as dragons retaliated. Hiccup slumped in the saddle, he knew better than to think that this time it would be different, but that hadn't stopped a traitorous little spark of hope from flaring to life in his mind. Gripping the handholds tightly, he flicked his foot and Toothless sped towards the village. _Here we go._

With each pass over the village the air became increasingly thick with ashes. Hiccup usually tried to conserve Toothless' shots in the beginning of raids, especially the long ones. He used their superior speed and agility to head off other dragons, stopping fights before they started.

While that worked for a while, when the villagers began manning the catapults he knew that Toothless would have to open fire. Those could cause a lot of damage very quickly, so as battle raged on the ground, Toothless dove.

"Time for some fire, bud! Take out the tower!" Hiccup yelled over the wind. The high-pitched sound of his plasma blast sliced through the normal sounds of a raid, and the fireball smashed into one of the undamaged supporting struts of the first catapult. The structure buckled as Toothless sped past it, the warriors upon it leapt to safety as it splintered and collapsed.

Turning as fast as they could manage, Hiccup saw a Gronckle, surrounded by cheering Vikings and trapped in a net that was staked to the ground. Flying in low over the flaming buildings and using the smoke for cover, Toothless fired and blasted one of the stakes to smithereens. After firing, he immediately pulled up and into the darkness as the now free Gronckle flapped out of harm's way. Hiccup screwed his eyes shut to try and alleviate the painful sting of ash. With a growl, he scanned the village for their next target.

Toothless fired at fighting pairs twice more, once to save a Nadder that had been brought down, and again to knock a Viking away from the Zippleback he was forcing into a net. Hiccup recognized those he was telling Toothless to fire upon. Sure, most have them had never really been kind to him, but that didn't mean he wanted to see them hurt. He was protecting both sides as much as he could. If he didn't, then the killing would just continue, and the flames of hatred would be fanned ever higher.

His heart, already beating faster than ever due to the adrenaline rush of battle, skipped a beat or two. As he circled around the edge of the village, he saw two younger Vikings facing off against a Nightmare. Well, one was on his back, but the other, a warrior with braided blonde hair and wielding a hammer, was forcing the Nightmare back. _Astrid._

Hiccup gulped. He didn't think he could tell Toothless to fire on Astrid. Despite trying to cut all ties to Berk, he was still hopelessly crushing on her. As she drove the Nightmare back with swing after swing, Hiccup knew she would best the wounded dragon.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned down and murmured "Toothless. Be very. _Very_. Careful with this shot." With a quick mental prayer, he flicked the pedal and pointed them directly at Nightmare that had just been knocked to the ground. "Just left of the blonde one."

Toothless roared and fired off the bolt of purple fire. Time seemed to slow down as Hiccup saw Astrid's head turn as she jumped to the right and away from the Nightmare. He exhaled in relief as the ground took the shot and the Nightmare flew off. "Great shot bud, great shot. Extra fish for you when we get home."

Toothless warbled happily and did a spin, just for style.

On their next pass, Hiccup saw a Zippleback perched on the roof of a house, flooding gas through the door. Toothless fired at the corner of the house so as not to ignite the gas and the two headed dragon scrambled over itself to fly away. _That gas is still a problem though._

When Toothless passed over the house, Hiccup could hear screaming coming from within. _Damn it all._ He quickly guided Toothless around and directly down, unhooked himself from the saddle. Receiving an alarmed look from the dragon, he gave a lopsided grin.

"Hey, if I die then you get my share of fish too." With that, he jumped the couple of feet to the ground behind the house, took a deep breath, and sprinted inside.

The thick, foul smelling gas had nearly filled the entire hut, making it nearly impossible to see more than a foot. Hiccup followed the sounds of distress until he almost tripped over the source. A small child, no older than five, was curled up under a chair. Hiccup kneeled down and offered his hand to the girl.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" When the girl just sort of looked at him uncomprehendingly, he sighed. "Okay… sorry, kiddo." Pushing the chair away, he grabbed the girl and threw her over his shoulder. Doing his best to ignore her kicking and screaming, he ran for the door.

Running at full tilt, Hiccup slammed right into one of the other people he didn't want to see. _I'm dead._ Hiccup looked up and saw the surprised face of Stoick the Vast. _I'm so very dead. If he wasn't disappointed enough when I was scrawny, he'll rip me in half for being a dragon 'sympathizer.'_

Stoick blinked, then scowled and hefted his hammer. "Who in Odin's name are you, and what are you doing with her?"

Hiccup stiffened as his blood ran cold. For a second there was nothing in his mind. No witty comeback. With his eyes locked to Stoick's, he slowly took the still struggling girl down from his shoulder.

"I asked you a question, whelp." Stoick growled as he took a step forward. "Who are you?"

Hiccup threw the girl at Stoick and bolted. He pushed his legs to move as fast as possible as he sprinted towards where Toothless had landed. As Stoick yelped in surprise, Hiccup would have laughed at the exceedingly odd sound had he not been running for his life. Rounding the corner of the house he spotted Toothless hunkered down in the shadows.

"Toothless!" Hiccup practically screamed, his lungs burning from the frigid air. "We need to fly! _Now!_ "

Toothless was up on his feet and bounding out to Hiccup before the final words had left his mouth. His eyes were wide with alarm as Hiccup leapt into the saddle and hooked himself in. As the dragon leapt up to the roof of a house and spread his wings, Stoick rounded the corner and stopped cold.

When he looked back, just before Toothless took flight, the look of bewilderment and rage Stoick's face sent gooseflesh crawling along Hiccup's body. Stoick opened his mouth to say something, but they were gone. Hiccup took several shaky breaths at they climbed higher above the village.

 _That was_ way _too close._ Hiccup shook his head and tried to calm his breathing. "Okay Toothless, time to go." The raid looked to be almost over, most of the dragons were already gone or in the process of leaving. "We're done here."

They turned to leave Berk's airspace, and Hiccup's heart sank. _Of course we aren't done. We can't be done._ At the base of one of the large torches stood Astrid. She picked up the axe that had lain on the ground at her side and held it to the throat of the Nadder that she had lashed to the torch's support. _What… is she doing?_

Hiccup pulled Toothless into a hover as Astrid began yelling up into the sky. "Come on out, Night Fury! I know you're still there, you wouldn't leave one of your own down here to die like this, would you?!"

 _Oh._ Hiccup flinched as he realized what was going on. _She thinks Toothless killed me. Of_ course _she wants revenge. That's the Viking way after all._ With a sigh, he scratched the back of his head. "So, how to we handle this, bud?"

While he was deliberating his options, Astrid hit the Nadder with the flat of her axe.

"Okay, then." The wind whistled as Toothless dove. Hiccup saw Astrid duck, then look up with hatred in her eyes as they slowed and circled the torch. Other Vikings in the area began throwing various weapons, and he and Toothless simply danced through the air around them. Hiccup kept his eyes on Astrid and her axe. The Nadder's mooring to the torch was done well enough that he couldn't release it with a blast without destroying the support. If the torch fell there was no telling how much damage it could cause, or how many people it could hurt or even kill. _Last resort, then._

Astrid switched from looking at Toothless to looking at _him_ , and his uncooperative heart skipped a beat again. Her eyes didn't have only hatred in them anymore; they now held disbelief as she unwittingly lowered her axe slightly. He smiled and sat a little straighter in the saddle. _First to ride a dragon, least I did that right._

Deciding on a, let's face it, completely nuts plan, Hiccup urged Toothless away from the village, keeping an eye on Astrid as they went. She took the bait and yelled in frustration, taking a few steps after them and, more importantly, away from the Nadder.

Turning quickly, they sped back towards the downed dragon. Unhooking himself from the saddle for the second time that night, Hiccup drew his dagger and gave whispered instructions to Toothless. Just before they were upon the Nadder, Toothless reared back and fully extended his wings. Toothless slowed dramatically, the gusts of wind knocking Astrid and a couple other warriors to the ground. Hiccup, while slightly slowed down, was launched from the saddle and right onto the Nadder.

His knees almost buckled as he hit the frozen ground, but he recovered and quickly sliced through the ropes holding down the trapped dragon. Placing a hand on the snout of the bright blue creature, he murmured in its ear. "Fly, my friend. Flee from this horrible place."

The Nadder nuzzled him slightly before taking off into the night.

Toothless landed next to him just as the Nadder left. The dragon bared his teeth and growled at the Vikings who were encircling them warily, all wearing looks of fear, disbelief, and a little bit of awe. _Well look at that. Those kinds of looks aren't something they ever gave to Hiccup the Useless._ With a smirk that was hidden behind his mask, he made a small hand gesture and Toothless hushed immediately. Turning in a full circle, he cast his gaze over the assembled warriors.

His eyes landed on Astrid, who was looking at him with… what was that? Mostly anger and disbelief, but there was a hint of… pain? _Worry later, escape now._ With a flourish he sheathed his dagger and gave an exaggerated bow in Astrid's direction.

Astrid blinked and cocked her head slightly to the side, her axe lowering again. While she was seemingly distracted, he jumped backwards onto Toothless and they immediately took to the air. Startled cries were followed by a few hastily thrown weapons, all of which missed. With a laugh of relief, he secured himself to the saddle and they sped off southward.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is a little late due to finals. And a little long, I practically doubled the length of the piece, haha. Thank you for your patience :)

A huge thank you to my good friend Luna1100 on Tumblr for being my beta for this. Probably wouldn't have posted it without you.

Please send any and all constructive criticism, I've no idea what I'm doing, so

Thank you to all the reviewers with a special shout out to Eterna1Soldier, and everyone who followed, favorited, or read. Thank you very much :)


	4. Resolve

For two that I hold in the highest esteem: E-Wills, and Monty Oum. I love and miss you both so much.

Disclaimer: Thank heavens I don't own HTTYD, seriously; the stories would have been so much worse with me at the helm.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Resolve**

The axe really was beautiful. The candlelight danced over the engraved metal, casting the patterns into sharp relief as Astrid spun it slowly in her hands. The weapon was perfectly balanced for her, and with her skill at arms it acted as a longer, sharper arm. What little time she had used it during the raid had been incredible.

 _The raid._ As raids went it hadn't been terribly destructive, no deaths and only a couple of households had needed to be put up in the great hall for a night. Her mind returned to thoughts of the downright weirdness that had transpired just hours ago during the battle. _Okay, so dragon rider. Dragon_ rider. _That makes no sense._ Vikings and dragons were mortal enemies, but the rider had not only ridden into battle on the back of that Night Fury, he'd treated the Nadder as a friend. Not only that, but the rider had looked at her and _bowed_. There was something very mocking about that bow, as if the rider didn't think she was much of a threat, or that the baiting strategy had been a weak attempt.

Astrid gripped the handle tighter and let out a frustrated huff. The rider irritated her simply by existing; Vikings don't ride dragons. It's unnatural, _he_ is unnatural. Short, clad in a patchwork suit of leather armor and that weird helmet that covers his stupid face. The next time they met, she would remove his helmet, and his head, in either order.

With a shake of her head, Astrid stood and hefted the axe. _Her_ axe. Gobber had said that Hiccup made it specifically for her, and that didn't sit well in her mind at all. She'd not really paid the boy much attention after the carefree years of childhood had run their course. Training to become the best warrior there was had taken up what free time she had left. She'd ignored him, and he'd made her an axe.

 _Okay that's not_ completely _true, is it?_ She had to admit to herself that she began to notice him a lot more when Dragon Training began. How could she not, him getting in the way all the time and generally being the same irritating boy, only much closer to her, always getting in her way; but then he'd gotten _good_. He'd pulled all these stunts out of nowhere, started acting weirder than normal, he'd even won the honor of killing that Nightmare!

Her father had laughed when she'd come home furious that night. "Losin' to the Haddocks ain't dishonorable, love. They ain't the leading family for nothin', the boy just bloomed late."

Whatever. Hiccup was _Hiccup_ ; he didn't win at _anything,_ much less Dragon Training. So when she'd seen him sneaking off, she'd followed him, planning to confront him about his sudden rise in skill with dragons.

Astrid screwed her eyes shut as she remembered his panicked yelling, telling her to run. There was no way she was getting back to sleep. Moving as quietly as she could so as not to wake her family, Astrid slipped through the door and ran out into the cold night. Though the fires had all been extinguished before the village went back to sleep, the air was still laden with smoke. She slung her axe over her shoulder and settled into a comfortable run towards the tree line, taking care to avoid the guard patrols and the night shift repair crew.

 _Hiccup's axe. Dragon rider. Hiccup's axe. Dragon rider._ The thoughts circled around in her head as the forest welcomed her in. The errant sounds of Berk's livestock faded into nothingness as she delved deeper and deeper through the trees.

 _Hiccup… you made me an axe worthy of some great hero, or even though I did nothing to deserve it. Don't suppose I'll ever find out why._ Her breath visible in the frigid morning air, she slowed her pace to a walk and cast her eyes to the forest floor. She'd never get to ask him why he'd done it. He was gone, and no amount of guilt would change that. _I'm sorry, Hiccup, I should have been stronger. I'll remember you though, and the axe you made will sing the songs of battle until I can no longer lift it._

Coming across a small grove of trees with decently sized trunks, she broke into a sprint and unslung her axe. With a cry she leapt into the air, her blade arcing around and biting into the tough bark of her first target. She slipped the axe from the tree in one smooth motion and spun, launching it at another trunk. Astrid let the thoughts of Hiccup go as she attacked the trees with newfound fury. The sounds of her axe slamming into wood echoed slightly in the silence, and for the first time that night, she was calm.

As the first rosy fingers of dawn snaked their way across the sky, Astrid stopped attacking the trees and looked at the still immaculate blade of the axe. The Night Fury had slipped away this time, and she had been unprepared for the rider. Next time, it would be different. Next time, she would destroy that rider and his pet murderer. She would avenge Hiccup's death with the axe he'd left behind.

* * *

The great hall was packed, warriors stuffed in for the post-raid B&B, the traditional breakfast and brag. Tall tales were spun, denounced, and told again with even more embellishment. The odd flying mug or half-eaten meal certainly made their appearances, but with only one fistfight, Stoick thought it was a relatively quiet morning.

Slamming his fist down on the head table, Stoick took a breath and stood. The rowdy warriors quieted down, to an extent, and directed their collective gaze to their chief.

"Good morn' to all o' you! We had a good raid; didn't lose too much food, but most importantly, we lost none of our own!" Stoick's declaration was met with a wall of noise as the assembled men and women cheered. Toasts were made and mead was spilled, and at least one helmet made its way to the other side of the hall.

Stoick gave several seconds for his people to revel in their rare fortune; gods knew they needed a good day. Slamming his fist down again, he spoke. "Aye, a good raid. However, there is something that needs to be talked about." Stoick paused and watched the faces of a few warriors grow dark. "We have a new enemy. There is something that takes the shape of a man, yet cavorts with the dragons. He was seen last night _riding_ a Night Fury."

After a beat of silence, the hall erupted. Several laughed uproariously, denouncing the idea of a dragon rider. Others shouted in support of the chief, readying their food and utensils for righteous battle. Before things could escalate any further, Gobber brought his mug-attachment down multiple times and bellowed for quiet.

"OI! Shut yer traps an' listen to yer chief! He ain't finished yet!"

With a nod to Gobber in thanks, Stoick cleared his throat. "I wish I could laugh with you all, say it was a joke and make merry. I witnessed the rider's attempt at a kidnapping before he flew off on that helbeast with my own two eyes." The noise level again began to rise, this time with troubled and angry murmurs. "And tha's not the end of it. Many of you saw him come down and free a Nadder that we had trapped. Treating it as a pet, or even a _friend_ , before letting it fly free!"

Again, the hall was filled with discontent mutterings and nods of affirmation. Calls for the rider's head swiftly followed, and the more boisterous members of the crowd began shouting their intentions to place his head on a pike themselves.

Upon hearing this, Stoick began to shake his head. " _Anyone_ takes that beast's head, and I will banish them from this tribe!" Looking over the shocked faces of the crowd, he continued in a quiet yet deadly tone. "The rider I don't care about, but that Night Fury is mine. It stole my son from me, and it is _mine._ "

After a beat of silence there was a chorus of assent, and drinking vessels were held high. While each warrior knew that killing the creature would be a great honor, Viking law gave the right of revenge to Stoick, and none of them were keen to get between the chief and his vengeance.

As the conversations of the hall returned to the normal fare of boasting, Stoick sat and began to eat. Barely one bite had passed his lips before someone to his left cleared their throat.

"There is one more thing you should know about concerning that rider, chief." Spitelout said quietly.

Stoick raised his eyebrow and gestured for Spitelout to continue.

"When he landed and set that Nadder free, we had him surrounded. We may have been able to capture him then and there, but he mounted his helbeast and vanished before anyone but Astrid could get close enough to grab him." Spitelout leaned in and lowered his voice even further as Stoick's expression darkened slightly. "Before he flew off, he _bowed_ to Astrid, and she lowered her axe. She was the only one with any real chance to get him, and she _let him go_."

* * *

Returning to the village proper, Astrid heard the sounds of cheering coming from the celebrations in the great hall. Looking up, she saw that there were a healthy number of villagers leaving the structure to get on with post-raid repairs and other such daily duties. Realizing she'd missed the celebration meal, she sighed as her stomach growled. _Bread it is_.

As she jogged up to the hall, she nodded to Gobber, who gave her a small smile in return as he hobbled his way down to the forge. The axe on her back felt slightly heavier. _I really ought to talk with him… it doesn't make any sense._

Upon entering the hall, she felt the wave of heat roll over her, carrying with it smells of roasted meat, honeyed mead, and the unfortunate odors of your average Viking. Making a beeline for the nearest half-empty bowl of bread rolls, she felt a pair of eyes boring a hole into her skull. She followed her instinct and looked up, pinpointing the source as the head ta-oh.

Her eyes met Stoick's and her skin crawled with discomfort. His eyes were slightly narrowed and his face contorted into a scowl that would make any sane dragon flee. She blinked and looked away, grabbing a roll and walking towards the door. She focused on her breathing and resisted the urge to break into a run. _I know you're angry with me for Hiccup, but I'll kill that Night Fury. Maybe then you'll begin to forgive me._

Heart beating slightly fast and bread roll in hand, Astrid made her way down to the forge. The sounds of Gobber beating some piece of metal until it cooperated rang through the village, though they were no longer accompanied by his slightly off-key whistling, nor with the sounds of another hammer raining down blows. _Nope. Stop that thought right there, Astrid._

Shrugging her shoulder she grabbed her axe and unslung it, going over opening lines in her head as she drew closer to the forge's window. _'Heya, Gobber, how's it going?' Who talks like that anyway?_ Shaking her head, she tried again. ' _That raid was something, huh?' No shit, why not say the sky is gray?_ With a sigh she tried to force herself to relax. _Gobber's a friend, he understands. Just act natural._

Before Astrid could speak however, she heard the rhythmic beating pause and a voice rise to greet her. "G'day, lass. Wondered when you'd be droppin' by, ye did na' disappoint. Wha's on yer mind?"

 _Welp_. With a deep breath, Astrid hefted the axe, her eyes fixed on the blade as the reflection of the forge's flames dancing over the engraved surface. Keeping her eyes on the weapon, she and went for it. "The axe. You said Hiccup made it… for me, but that doesn't make any sense. I didn't do anything to deserve it, so why?"

For a few of the longest seconds in the history of the world, there was silence but for the crackling of the forge. Astrid held her breath, keeping her eyes averted from Gobber's still frame for fear of what she would see.

"…Ye canna' be serious."

Astrid looked up in confusion to see Gobber's slackened jaw and half lidded eyes, his face the definition of disbelief. Before she had a chance to speak, Gobber rolled his eyes and slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Oh Thor preserve us. Hiccup… he was head over heels for ye. Completely lost, used to follow ye wi' his eyes every time you passed the forge. 'S a wonder he managed to get any work done at all." With a sad smile he sat down and slumped into the seat. "Tha' axe was gonna be his way of officially courtin' ye. He'd begun ta think he had a chance wi' his success in trainin'."

For a few more of the world's longest seconds, Astrid said nothing as her mind refused to process what Gobber had said. _Oh_. "Oh." She opened and closed her mouth a few times as she worked through the wave of emotions that had crashed into her.

Sighing softly and Gobber shook his head slightly. "So ye really did na' know."

With a shake of her head, Astrid placed the axe on a nearby shelf and took a step away from it. "No, I didn't… and I can't use it. It's not right, it wasn't presented or anything, I as good as stole it."

Gobber stood and picked up the discarded axe. "Listen, lass. I loved that boy, and I think he loved ye. He's gone now, but he would 'ave wanted ye to use tha' axe, never mind how ye got it." He held the weapon out towards the uncertain girl, motioning for her to take it again. "It's yours, nobody but us knows about what it was originally. Besides, he was na' gonna court me, eh?"

Laughing quietly despite herself, Astrid grabbed the handle gingerly. The welcome weight calmed her breathing somewhat. "You never know, maybe he _was_ going to court you. Who knows what went on in that clever head of his…" Looking up at Gobber properly, she gave him a half-forced smile. "Thanks, Gobber."

"One more thing: Don't let Stoick get to ye. He's na' himself right now, bu' he'll come round." Gobber returned her smile with a slightly troubled one. "Hiccup's death was na' your fault, Astrid."

Astrid looked down and nodded before turning around and heading for home. As the sounds of metal being beaten resumed, the worn smile fell from her face. In words spoken so quietly that she could barely hear them, Astrid spoke. "It _is_ my fault, Gobber, but thanks for saying that."

* * *

A/N: Goodness me, that took far too long. This chapter kicked my butt but it's finally done now x.x Next one is partially written and should be much faster than this one was. *knocks on wood*

A huge thank you to my good friend Luna1100 on Tumblr for being my beta for this. Probably wouldn't have posted it without you.

Please send any and all constructive criticism, I've no idea what I'm doing, so

Thank you to all the reviewers and everyone who followed, favorited, or read. Thank you very much :)


	5. Hope

For two that I hold in the highest esteem: E-Wills, and Monty Oum. I love and miss you both so much.

Disclaimer: Thank heavens I don't own HTTYD, seriously; the stories would have been so much worse with me at the helm.

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Hope**

Hiccup collapsed to the ground, his entire body burning with exertion. He ripped the helmet off of his head just lay on the rocks of his little island, Toothless flopping down beside him and nuzzling his shoulder. With a tired smile and a gargantuan effort, Hiccup brought his hand up and gently stroked the smooth snout of his scaly friend. "Thanks for tonight, bud… s'not getting any easier."

Toothless warbled and closed his eyes, pressing against Hiccups hand for a few calm seconds. Suddenly, he tensed and snapped his eyes open, his nostrils flaring in alarm.

At the sudden shift in Toothless' demeanor, Hiccup leapt to his feet, the spike of adrenaline allowing him to forget how tired his body was. With his hand on the handle of his dagger, he peered into the pre-dawn blackness, searching for a threat. There was nothing that seemed out of place. The slight westerly breeze made small tufts of grass sway in a manner that distracted his eyes for a precious moment. There was a small pile of rocks with a larger rock moving around eating the smaller ones.

 _Wait a minute._ Hiccup let out a nervous, yet relieved peal of laughter and relaxed. The Gronckle paid him no mind and continued merrily scarfing down the multicolored assortment of rocks. Wild dragons would occasionally land on the island, and he typically just let them be.

Satisfied that there was no real threat, Hiccup bent down to retrieve his discarded helmet. His body began to stiffen up again as the fatigue of riding and fighting set in once more. With a groan, he shuffled off to the nearby shore to clean himself up. Toothless seemed more interested in sleep than bath time, and trotted off towards their small cave.

Removing his armor was less irritating now that he'd had a chance to improve it somewhat. The leather shoulder pads and various leather plates came off easily enough; the main issue was always the leather scale hauberk. Because he still didn't have access to a proper forge, he'd had to make to with less-than-desirable quality materials scrounged from various markets. Though Toothless was getting better at heating metals precisely, so he had hope.

With his armor in an undignified pile on the shore, he waded out into the cold water until he was about thigh deep, and proceeded to rid himself the warpaint and the grime of battle. After the first Berkian raid several days ago, he'd decided to apply a dark pigment made from the fruits on the island to his face. His helmet was all well and good, but were it removed or someone got a glimpse some other way, it seemed prudent to have a second line of defense. The pattern's he'd chosen gave his face a semi-scaled appearance, which Toothless had found quite amusing.

 _What a life._ With a derisive snort he shook his head. _Can't let anyone see my face, can't talk to anyone, living alone on an island, and doing nothing but fighting or improving my ability to fight…_ Stretching out his arms to try and work out the knots, a small smile wormed its way onto his face. _I'm not completely alone, there is still Toothless._

With the paint and most of the smoke and ash residue from tonight's raid dealt with, he made his way back to shore and began to quickly dry himself. The days were getting warmer, but being just slightly warmer than mind-numbingly cold didn't mean it wasn't cold. As he dressed himself again, he noticed a thin film of salt manifesting on his skin and in his hair. _I really ought to find a better source of fresh water than random lakes on other islands._ He'd bathe in earnest later on, hopefully there wouldn't be a raid tonight and he'd be able to have just a few minutes of down time.

Shivering slightly, Hiccup gathered up his armor and half-ran back to the cave. After wrapping himself in the few furs he had, he built a small fire, which Toothless promptly lit. His stomach growled slightly, but his limbs refused to do anything but curl up closer to the scaled furnace that was his best friend. As his eyelids slid shut of their own volition, he smiled and pressed his head into Toothless' side.

 _There is still Toothless_ _._ Darkness took him, but his sleep-addled mind swore that something was gently pressed against his forehead. Something that made soft crooning noises. Something warm.

* * *

The next morning came far too quickly by Hiccup's reckoning. As much as he knew that he couldn't stop the sun's passage through the sky, he wished he could have just a day to do nothing but sleep. Gods knew he sorely needed it, but with the frequent raids and the need to keep his equipment in working order, a good night's sleep was an infrequent luxury.

 _I need to repair the scales that were torn off my armor last night, I need to try and finish building a real forge…_ With a groan, he forced his sore body to move. _I'll probably have to visit a village and see what sort of tools I can find._ Stretching out his protesting limbs as best he could, he set to work. Food could wait, there was far too much to do.

As it turned out, Hiccup's stomach was far more vocal about its discomfort than it had been the previous night. After about half an hour of letting it rumble away, Toothless practically dragged him out of the cave to go fishing when it made a particularly loud noise. An annoyed but amused Hiccup relented and 'decided' to take a break from armor repairs.

Upon exiting the cave however, he found a present from the Gronckle that had visited the day before. A large reddish glob of semi-cooled lava sat off to the side of the cave mouth, the grass surrounding it charred and burned away. _Oh lovely, Gronckle puke._ Smiling slightly, he pulled himself up onto Toothless' saddle. "Come on, bud, let's go fishing."

With an enthusiastic roar, Toothless launched himself into the sky, and they began scanning the surface for signs of fish.

* * *

The last rays of rose colored light from the setting sun speared into Hiccup's eyes as Toothless flew several hundred feet back from the dragon swarm. Flinching and raising a hand to block it out, he stifled a yawn and shook himself awake. They'd been flying for gods knew how long and he'd elected to take a nap. Toothless didn't seem to mind, the lazy reptile often slept when Hiccup was working on his armor or building the makeshift forge up, so it was only fair.

But now he needed to be awake and alert, they were closing in on what seemed to be tonight's target. At this pace, the sun would have just set when they reached the island of the Meathead clan.

He had seen the raiding dragons adopt this strategy before. Instead of attacking from every direction in the dead of night, they would glide along the surface of the ocean or soar above the cloud layer. From the ground it seemed as though they came from out of nowhere.

 _There it is._ Hiccup saw the silhouette of the Meathead Islands looming against the rapidly darkening horizon, small points of light dotting its surface like stars in the night sky. Pulling his helmet down over his face, he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and took a deep breath as he urged Toothless forward. _Here we go._

The swarm dove in, and there was silence. Many of them were aiming for the livestock pens, and they began to land with confused squawks.

Hiccup watched as more and more dragons landed and started sniffing around for the missing animals. _No animals, and no Vikings._ Hiccup's brow furrowed and he slowed Toothless to a hover several hundred feet from the coastline, his stomach beginning to stir with unease. Standing up on the stirrups, he began to search the village. There were many torches lit, they dotted the village in a manner that bathed most areas in a warm light. There were certainly recent signs of life, but no Vikings.

 _This is not good. Something is very wrong._ He hadn't seen any ships out of port during their approach, but he turned and looked out to sea anyway. Still no ships, as he expected, but just as he was about to turn back, he spotted something odd. A small island to the north had a massive fire at its highest point. _A signal fire._

Hiccup's blood ran cold. _They saw us coming, which means-_

"NOW, LADS! RIP 'EM APART!"

Snapping his gaze forward, he saw the missing Vikings pouring out of their huts, from under wagons, and other various hiding places and falling upon grounded dragons as wolves fall upon sheep. Bellowing their war cries as weapons that shone in the torchlight began to fall. Cries of pain and rage from both dragon and Viking split the air, and the night that was nearly silent only seconds ago was rent with the savage cacophony of battle. Panicked dragons that tried to take flight were snared by nets and cut down. Others fought back, dragon fire of all kinds igniting buildings, shields, and Viking alike.

Hiccup was frozen for the first few seconds, so Toothless took things into his own claws and dove, snapping Hiccup out of his trance as they sped towards the village. _So many… Focus. Okay. Dragons are mostly tying to escape, so we have to push the Vikings back to let them fly away. Right._ Accelerating to near their top speed, he kept Toothless fairly close to the ground as they sped over the fighting. In their first pass Toothless fired three times, aiming solely to allow dragons to escape. The second time, he fired four.

 _It's useless…_ Pass after pass over the village and the bodies just kept piling up. One Nadder was trying to free another caught in a net, before Hiccup could try and help a sword sprouted from the dragon's back and it collapsed to the side. The sword's owner stabbed the twitching dragon again, and the creature stilled. Hiccup couldn't look anywhere on the island where there wasn't a dead dragon or Viking. The air was rank with the stench of fresh blood, and it was only his willpower that was holding back the contents of his stomach. _I can't stop this, who am I kidding._

Several dragons had managed to escape the bloodbath on the ground and were fleeing in every which direction. A stray bola thrown after one of the fleeing dragons smacked right into Hiccup's side, knocking him from the saddle and pinning his arms. Toothless cried out in alarm as the anchoring rope pulled taut and they began to tumble towards the sea.

Screwing his face up in pain, Hiccup struggled against the binding ropes as he fell. His breathing quickened as the ropes refused to budge, and his struggling became more frantic. "Toothless!" Hiccup screamed as he began to panic.

Toothless grabbed hold of Hiccup and began to try and bite through the bola. Though his teeth were not well suited to the task, he managed to hook one of the ropes and pull, snapping it in two and allowing Hiccup to hurriedly clamber aboard the saddle. Re-engaging the pedal, they regained control and pulled out of the dive far too close to the tumultuous surface of the ocean for Hiccup's comfort.

Letting out a huge sigh of relief, he leaned into Toothless' neck and threw his arms around his friend. "Thanks, bud, I owe you a boatload of fish." He couldn't help but chuckle at Toothless' chuff of satisfaction, but the small smile was quickly wiped off of his face as they turned back to pass over the village once again. With a sigh, he shook his head. _This is hopeless…_

"Dragon Master!"

Looking down, he saw Thuggory, the heir of the Meathead tribe, directly ahead and looking right at him, holding aloft an axe and bellowing at the top of his lungs.

"Does your heart bleed yet?!" Thuggory continued "You man enough to come down and fight on your own, or you gonna let your pets keep dyin' in droves?!"

As they sped out of hearing range, Hiccup slumped in the saddle. _Thuggory…_ _They did this to get to me._ Turning Toothless around for their next pass, he saw that many more dragons than he'd though had made it out of the slaughter, and were in various states of fleeing or circling high in the air looking for an opening. Zeroing in on Thuggory, who was standing atop a butchered Zippleback, he leaned into the wind and Toothless shot forward like an arrow from a bow. His despair changing and fueling his rage, he gripped the handle of his dagger. _Fine. You want a fight; you'll get a fight._

Murmuring quietly to Toothless, Hiccup devised his plan. "Pick him up, we're going into the forest." Patting the side of his friend's neck, he drew his dagger and took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing._

An arrow whistled past his head, and another grazed Toothless' shoulder. Both Hiccup and Toothless let out roars as they charged headlong towards Thuggory, who readied his axe. Just before they collided, Toothless fired a plasma blast at Thuggory's axe, smashing the weapon out of his hands, and an arrow slammed into Hiccup's stomach. He barely registered that he'd been hit. He didn't even know if it had penetrated his armor, and right now he didn't care.

Thuggory's eyes went wide and his expression of triumph morphed into fear. Hiccup had to smile a little at that as Toothless grabbed the Meathead heir and banked sharply upwards, taking them out of arrow range as quickly as possible before heading to the forest on the other side of the island.

As they came in over the tree line, Hiccup murmured, "Drop him."

Thuggory's constant swearing rapidly became screaming slightly unbecoming of his stature as he fell towards the forest floor. The branches of several trees slowed his fall to some degree, but he still slammed into the ground with enough force to leave him dazed.

Hiccup and Toothless landed gracefully several feet away a few seconds later. Dismounting and drawing his dagger, Hiccup walked slowly towards the downed Viking, and began to speak.

"You kill dragons, dragons kill you, and on and on it goes until the dead are uncountable. Yet the survivors on both sides continue to suffer." Hiccup began to twirl the weapon as he walked, his nimble fingers causing the blade to dance in the dim moonlight. "So, by your Viking logic, I should just kill you here and now. Right?" Cocking his head to the side, he placed his foot on Thuggory's wrist and looked him square in the eye, waiting for his answer. _Please, Odin, let this work._

Thuggory sat up on his elbows and looked up and the masked figure. Deciding bravado was the best option, he scoffed, "Oh please, you couldn' kill me if you tried. Even if yer some demon, or dragon-spawned freak, you couldn' break my little finger."

Toothless's low growling became far more pronounced at the threat. Hiccup did nothing to quiet the dragon as he reversed the grip on his dagger. Steeling himself as best he could, he dropped down and swiftly placed the tip of his dagger at Thuggory's throat. Glaring down, he growled with all the anger he could muster. "Are you so sure of that, Viking? Shall we test your idea?"

With an increasingly pissed off dragon mere feet away, and the cold metal point digging uncomfortably into his throat, Thuggory's resolve began to waver. "H-hey, look, they come to us and attack us! We didn' go to their home and steal or burn all their stuff!" Gulping against the point of the dagger, he started slowly trying to inch his way backwards. "You gonna kill me? Kill me. If not, let me up so I can kill you. It's kill or be killed, there is no other way."

Smiling under his helm, Hiccup waited for a couple seconds and let Thuggory stew before standing and taking a couple steps back. Sheathing his dagger, he immediately gave Toothless a little 'calm down' gesture, and his friend stopped the menacing growl.

"No other way? That's funny, because I seem to have found one, Thuggory." Shaking his head, he laughed and placed his hand on Toothless' snout gently. "There was no other way to get away from the adults who were chasing us after we 'borrowed' all the chiefs' left boots during the Thing all those years ago, remember? Not until Cami threw all the boots into the sea and we hid in the rafters of a nearby storage barn."

Thuggory's eyes went wide and he scrambled to his feet, a look of confusion, no small amount of disbelief, and the tiniest amount of hope on his face. Taking a few breaths, he peered into the eye slits of that helmet, trying to get a good look at the wearer's eyes. "…Hiccup?"

Adopting a rueful smile, Hiccup reached up to removed his helmet. Looking up at his childhood friend, he nodded. "Hey, Thug." Dropping his helmet to the ground, he placed one hand back on Toothless' head, and offered the other openly. "Not a demon, and I think you'll find that news of my death has been slightly exaggerated. But I promise you, that just like before, there is another way. I can show you, but you're gonna have to trust me. Okay?"

Thuggory just stared at him for a few seconds. Striving to keep his breathing steady, Hiccup simply waited and gave Thuggory time to work through his thoughts. _Yeah, I'd be pretty surprised to find me riding a dra-_

Hiccup blinked, realizing he was flat on his back and his face hurt a lot more than he remembered it hurting a few seconds ago. Toothless had a struggling Thuggory pinned to the ground with his claws at the Viking's throat. Shaking his head to clear it, Hiccup nodded and rose to his feet.

"Berk told us you were dead! Killed fighting a Night Fury!" Thuggory wriggled under Toothless' paw to no avail, glaring up at Hiccup as he yelled. "I _mourned_ you! And now yer _riding_ a Night Fury?! What in Hel's blighted name are you playing at, helping them kill us?!"

With a sigh, Hiccup sat next to the downed Thuggory and slumped over, staring at the ground. _Can't be that easy, of course it can't._ Wincing slightly and wrapping an arm around his stomach, he spoke softly. "Thug, meet Toothless. He's a Night Fury. I shot him down, but I couldn't kill him any more than I could kill you… He looked so scared, and he reminded me more than a little of myself."

He chanced a look at Thuggory and was met with a slightly less hostile glare, but a glare nonetheless. Looking away again, Hiccup continued recounting the tale of how he and Toothless had become friends. Throughout the story, Thuggory's expression shifted towards one that was much more neutral and harder to read.

"I didn't mean to fake my death, it just sort of happened. I'd planned on leaving, because I couldn't live with people who killed dragons and wouldn't listen long enough to change." His stomach really was hurting, more than his face. Considering the crack Thuggory had given him that was surprising. "But Astrid followed me. She and Toothless didn't really get along, and before I knew it she'd hit her head on a rock and was out cold… I just kinda ran. I had Toothless melt her axe… I hated doing that, she loved that axe, but it had to be believable and that seemed like the best way." He stopped and thought about it in earnest. _I probably could have gotten away with snapping the handle and smearing some blood around…_

Thuggory cleared his throat, having recognized that he wasn't getting up and ceasing his struggling. "Okay, following so far. Not the same way I'd have handled it, but okay." He turned a questioning eye upon Hiccup and anger began to seep back into his expression. "So why help them kill us, then? I get that you couldn' kill dragons, but how is killing Vikings better?"

"Toothless and I don't kill anyone. I couldn't sit back and just let Vikings and dragons kill each other… so we joined in the raids and try to minimize the damage." Bowing his head, Hiccup saw eighteen faces flash through his mind, both dragon and human. "We don't always succeed… before tonight we'd watched several die, from both sides. We weren't fast enough, or I made a stupid call, or just dumb luck." He looked back at Thuggory with sadness in his eyes. "Toothless and I haven't killed anyone, in fact death counts have been way down since we started fighting in the raids… but we aren't enough."

Nodding thoughtfully, Thuggory began to chew through the new information out loud. "So, lemme see if I've got this right: you shot a dragon, made friends with it, left yer home with it, and now yer flyin' around playing hero with it. Something that gets me is… why haven't you gone back home and told them all this? That seems like it'd be stop number one, ya'know?"

Chuckling slightly, Hiccup shook his head. "Yeah, Berk isn't too fond of me, either of me, actually. Hiccup the Useless, or the 'Dragon Master' moniker I seem to have been given." Hiccup stood with a slightly pained grunt. "There is another way to deal with the dragons, one that doesn't involve so much death and constant war. Toothless and I found it, and I can help you and your whole tribe find it."

At Thuggory's skeptical look, Hiccup nodded and held a hand out towards the prone heir. "I know, it sounds mad, we can make it happen though. I can't do it, nobody listens to Hiccup the Useless, but with _you_ leading your people towards a better place, we might be able to pull this off." _Real leap of faith now._ "Now, please let him go, Toothless."

Toothless looked at Hiccup like he had grown a second head, and only complied when Hiccup followed up his request with a pleading look. None too happy with letting the other Viking go, Toothless huffed and narrowed his eyes, sticking very close to Hiccup just in case more punches were thrown.

Taking it as a good sign that he hadn't been hit yet, Hiccup allowed a small, hopeful smile to creep onto his face. "To make this work, I need you to trust me again, like when we were young. Will you help me stop this war? Please?"

Thuggory looked up at Hiccup and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Coming to a decision, he grasped the outstretched hand and pulled himself to his feet. After a moment's hesitation, he drew Hiccup into a bone-crushing hug, much to Toothless' initial alarm. "Hah, I was right, you couldn' even break my little finger." Grinning from ear to ear, he let a slightly squished Hiccup out of the hug, maintaining his grip on the smaller youth's arm. "You know yer nuts, right?"

Hiccup nodded and half-shrugged, scratching behind Toothless' ears in reassurance. "Yes, well, sometimes you gotta do something crazy… did it work?"

Giving Hiccup's forearm a squeeze, Thuggory smirked. "Good. If you weren' nuts this would never work. I trusted you when we were young, and I'll trust you now. If yer sayin' that there is another way, I'll believe you."

 _Thank the gods. Note to self: make less crazy plans._ "Thanks, Thug…" Hiccup paused, and then smiled a genuinely happy smile for the first time in too long. "It's good to see you again."

The small spark of hope that had almost died out sprang back to life with a vengeance, filling Hiccup's heart with confidence. _There is always another way._

* * *

A/N: Small tip: don't rush things. This chapter had to go through far too many revisions for my liking, but in the end I think it turned out alright.

A huge thank you to my good friend Luna1100 on Tumblr for being my beta for this. Probably wouldn't have posted it without you.

Please send any and all constructive criticism, I've no idea what I'm doing, so

Thank you to all the reviewers and everyone who followed, favorited, or read. Thank you very much :)


	6. Ripples

For two that I hold in the highest esteem: E-Wills, and Monty Oum. I am so very happy that E-Wills is back. I was without internet for a good bit, and when I came back she was there, it was like a magic trick. In hopes that she may one day see this: thank you E-Wills.

Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD, not mine, not making money off of this, yada yada yada.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Ripples**

The island of Berk was enjoying an unprecedented time of peace. It had been several weeks since the last dragon raid, and the social atmosphere reflected it. People were smiling more, construction had begun on completely _new_ buildings instead of constantly rebuilding and replacing old ones, and the sun being warmer every day seemed to cause most spirits to ride high.

Stoick leaned on the rim of the arena, watching as Gobber's newest class of recruits was introduced to the various species. His chiefly duties had led him all over the island this morning, and he had found himself at the gates of the arena with no real idea of how he had gotten there. Good memories, he had since concluded; memories of his own training, and of Hiccup becoming a warrior.

"And this, is the Terrible Terror. As you lot are a buncha wee bairns, we'll start ya off wi' a wee dragon." Gobber grinned and unlocked the pen door, allowing the small, fiery red Terror to burst out and start scrabbling around. The small group of youngsters, between the ages of 10 and 13, scattered.

Stoick grinned in spite of himself; Gobber certainly had a way with teaching the next generation. The smile quickly fell from his face when he noticed someone else in the ring.

"Come on, Leif, shield! Most important part of your equipment!" Astrid yelled out to one recruit who was staying towards the edge of the arena. "There was a recruit who bested this dragon with _only_ his shield. Come on, get in there!"

Gobber and Astrid worked together to corral the recruits into combat with the small dragon. Some recruits rushed in and were quickly rushing back out with burns and small bites. The Terror bounced between running underfoot and tripping the warriors-in-training to fully pouncing on them and gnawing at various parts of the face. If Stoick didn't know just how dangerous dragons were, he'd almost say it was playing.

"Come on, there are _seven_ of you little 'uns! You tellin' me tha' you can't take even this itty bitty dragon?" Gobber's fake angry voice rang across the chaos in the arena, and galvanized a couple of the braver recruits to charge once more. "Tha's it, Skip! Show that dragon wha' yer made of!"

The remaining recruits decided that they were done for the day, and bunched up near the door of the arena. Astrid jogged over to them, and gave them a stern but relatively gentle lecture, along with a couple tips for next time.

 _She's doing well at that._ Stoick wasn't quite sure where that thought came from. He crossed his arms and turned his gaze back to Gobber and the two who were still trying to get the better of the elusive Terror. By working together, the two of them managed to push the terror back into its pen using their shields in a wall and their weapons as incentive to move. Their chests heaving, the boy and girl pair started laughing in relief.

"Well done, Skip. Well done, Calder. Excellent teamwork." Gobber clapped both youths on the back. Both Skip and Calder looked worn out from the short fight, but their faces shone with pride. Stoick nodded approval when one of them looked up and him. They'd make fine warriors in their time.

"Good demonstration of a capture, though for your next one you might want to try for getting in a position where you could kill it." Astrid went over to the two victors to congratulate them, speaking as she walked. "Remember: dragons will _kill_ you if they get the chance. You have to be ready to kill them before they can kill you… or anyone else."

She looked up at Stoick with those last words, her eyes giving him more apologies. Guilt, sorrow, anger, regret, he saw them all, and some small part of him softened. She was still the one who had failed to protect his Hiccup, but in the time since his son's death, Stoick had calmed somewhat. Yes, it still hurt. Yes, he missed Hiccup dearly, and he was nowhere near over his loss, he still wasn't over Valka for Freyja's sake. But he recognized that he could hardly blame Astrid for everything, and so long as she continued to put her all into avenging Hiccup, he could begin to forgive her.

Astrid took the young recruits out of the arena and ushered them toward their next task while Gobber sidled up to Stoick and greeted his chief with a friendly whack on the arm.

"Those two who finished it up weren' half bad for their firs' time, eh Stoick?"

Stoick nodded, returning the smack to the arm. "Aye, they'll be grand warriors in their turn, I'm sure."

The two Vikings began walking after the group of trainees. Gobber glanced sidelong at Stoick before clearing his throat and speaking. "Astrid's been of great help teachin' em too, ye know." As Stoick's face descended into darker places, Gobber held up his hands. "All I'm sayin' is ye might think about given her a chance, eh? I miss Hiccup too, but you're far too hard on the lass."

Stoick opened his mouth to speak but Gobber was on a roll. "And she's the best warrior in that class ta boot. She's proven herself time and again. Aye, she couldn't kill a Night Fury, but do you think tha' even _you_ coulda beat tha' thing? Hiccup died a hero savin' her. He loved her to bits you know tha'. I'm just sayin' tha' mayhap you should cut her a bit of slack, eh?"

With a look in the direction of Hiccup's grave marker, Stoick sighed and nodded. "Aye, Gobber. I'm trying to."

Gobber blinked as if he had been unprepared for Stoick's agreement, then smiled gently. "Oh, well good. Now come on, let's go and have a drink. Wager I can beat you this time."

"Can't, have to go be the chief. Sorry, Gobber." Stoick shook his head. "Maybe some other time." Hitting Gobber's shoulder in farewell, he turned and walked towards the great hall. _Time to get back to work._

* * *

Within the hour, trouble was brewing in the form of the Thorston twins. Whenever they became bored, which was most of the time, they would inevitably attempt to cause some sort of mischief.

This morning's unlucky victim was the Dalgaard family. Specifically, the Dalgaard's chickens, most of which were currently running amok through the village. What few were not causing many villagers to drop various carried objects and bellow foul-mouthed language, were in the hands of Berk's very own resident renegades: Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

"When I catch you two rogues I'm gonna lock _you_ in a chicken coop!"

Without breaking stride, the twins looked behind them at their pursuer, Ruffnut making a goofy face and Tuffnut blowing a raspberry. Turning their eyes forward again, they continued weaving through various buildings at a near sprint.

"That means you gotta catch us first!" Ruffnut called back as she and her brother rounded another corner, chickens clutched firmly underarm.

Tuffnut leaned close to his partner-in-crime and spoke quietly. "Split up, hiding place 'sneaky beaky.' Don't get caught, I'd hate to have to find another twin."

Ruffnut snorted and rolled her eyes. "Oh please. If I get caught, I'll eat your left boot."

With a cackle, Tuffnut split off to the left, while Ruffnut went right and, after running for a few more seconds, almost bowled over another Berkian teen. Skidding to a halt, Ruffnut began preparing herself to chew on the tough hide of her brother's stinky left boot.

"And what do we have here?" Astrid raised an eyebrow and maintained a straight face by sheer willpower. "A chicken thief?"

Sighing in relief, Ruffnut grinned and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. "A chicken _liberator_." Looking around to make sure nobody else could see them, she leapt to the side into the Dalgaard's chicken enclosure. "The evil chicken enslavers are after me; I'll see you later after I've lost them." With a wink, she ran and wormed her way into the roof supports of one of the chicken coops.

Astrid just stood there with her mouth hanging open slightly for several seconds. _I suppose that's the last place they'd look._ Shaking her head, she let a small smile creep onto her face.

"Oi, Astrid, you seen them no-good Thorston kids?"

Turning to face Ivar Dalgaard with a carefully natural face, Astrid hesitated for a split second before replying. "I haven't seen either of them this morning, sorry." With a half shrug and an apologetic smile, she continued. "I'll help you with getting the chickens back in their coops though, it looks like you could use an extra pair of hands."

Ivar smiled and nodded, his breathing still slightly labored. "Much appreciated, lass." Nodding to Astrid, he went off in search of the twins once again.

Once he was out of sight, Astrid managed to snag a stray chicken after taking only a couple of dives after the panicking bird. Jogging over to the coop that she knew Ruffnut was hiding in, she knocked on the top with her free hand and murmured reassurances. "Ruff, it's me. You're all clear."

The hatch popped open and Astrid peered inside only to see a maniacally grinning Ruffnut. "You didn't tell him. Aww, you do like me."

Astrid rolled her eyes and shoved her captured chicken into the coop alongside Ruffnut. "Nah, I just think the chase is funnier than you getting caught right away." While she tried valiantly to maintain her indifferent mask, she couldn't help but smile at her fellow teen. "You gonna come out of there?"

Shaking her head, Ruffnut adjusted herself into a more comfortable position. "Uh uh, waiting for my idiot slowpoke of a brother to show up first. Go on and help out, little miss goodie-two-shoes." With a wink, she pulled the hatch shut again.

Laughing gently, Astrid pulled back and went in search of another of the runaway chickens. She'd almost forgotten what having fun was like; she was fifteen for Odin's sake. _Thanks, Ruffnut… don't ever change._

* * *

Given that the whole village had been brought to a virtual standstill by the chickens rampaging everywhere, Astrid figured she had a few free minutes to herself. Her parents wouldn't mind, she could finish up her chores later.

Ducking into the forge's main work area, she looked up at the small apron hanging forlornly on its peg. Gobber couldn't bring himself to take it down, and Astrid was secretly glad for that. It was a normal part of the forge, and as long as it was there, Hiccup could conceivably walk through the door and sling it on, quipping as he went. _I really paid more attention than I thought, didn't I?_ Shaking her head, she continued into the back room. Hiccup was gone. He wasn't coming back.

The back room of the forge was a rather small room, full of lesser used tools and bits of metal. Astrid ignored the knick-knacks and moved towards the drawers with Hiccup's old drawings in it. Gobber had collected every scrap of parchment that he could find and hidden them back here. He'd shown Astrid the day after he'd given her the axe Hiccup had made, saying that 'he probably wouldn't mind.' Opening the drawer, she took the top sheet and placed it on the desk, sat down, and pored over the design sketches of her axe.

Astrid hadn't been through all the contents of the drawer; it wasn't really her business, despite Gobber's insistence that she was welcome. But she couldn't help herself but look at the axe. While some of the page was blacksmith technical gobbledygook, there were other portions of writing surrounding the various drawings. Little notes Hiccup wrote to himself, questions with no answers, and even a couple little explanations. Those were the ones she enjoyed the most.

'I could carve engravings along the handle, not sure if that would compromise the strength of the wood to an unacceptable degree.' This note was next to a rough sketch of the planned engraving pattern; which Astrid knew was slightly different on the finished weapon. The discourse continued slightly lower down. 'Update on the engraving: carving it does risk the handle snapping due to stress in battle or along the grain, but burning it maintains the integrity and the pattern. Side note: we've got to come up with a better way of burning wood than pressing heated metal to it, it takes too long for complicated patterns.'

Reading the small notes almost felt like talking to Hiccup, getting to know him. Astrid knew it wasn't, but she wasn't going to get anything closer. The sound of a cleared throat startled her, causing her to fall off the stool and land amongst several scraps of leather in a heap.

Gobber extended his good hand to help Astrid up, a rare chuckle escaping his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, lass, but yer parents are lookin' for ya. They're rather insistent on ye finishing up your chores." He shrugged apologetically and looked away, his eyes landing on the axe sketches.

Astrid sighed and stood, dusting herself off. "Sorry, I just-"

"No need to explain, I do the same thing." Gobber jerked his head in the direction of the door. "Go on, we don't wan' them getting even more in a tizzy, now do we?"

Flashing him a quick smile, Astrid ran back home and grabbed a pair of buckets. She nodded to her father as she passed by on her way to the well, and he huffed in annoyance. Presumably because she had spent five minutes not finishing up her list of errands to run.

Placing one bucket down, she lowered the other into the pit and drew it back up full of water. She'd probably be asked to make a couple more trips, knowing her father. With a small sigh, she swapped the buckets and lowered the second one downwards. Out of the corner of her eye, Astrid saw Snotlout strutting towards her. _Please just walk past. Please just walk past._

"Hey, you look great and all, but you know what would make you look even better? Me."

 _Ugh._ Snotlout's voice really was irritating. Astrid often found herself having to grit her teeth whenever he tried to be 'romantic' or whatever. _People around, don't make a scene._ With a sigh, she focused on her current task and replied curtly. "I'll definitely remember that if I need to make anyone lose their breakfast."

Snotlout took a second to work through what she had said before responding. "Hah. Baby, you're really funny and stuff. I know you want me, who else is there?" He sauntered up to Astrid and leaned cockily against the side of a nearby shed. "Fishlegs? Puh- _lease_. Tuffnut? Right, if you want to be laughed off the island. And Hiccup went and got himself killed like the useless idiot we all knew he was, so he's not even around to pine for you anymore, ha!"

Astrid froze. The bucket she had been in the middle of pulling back up sloshed in her still grasp as her mind ground to a momentary halt. She slowly looked over to where Snotlout was lounging, and for a second it seemed that there was nothing else in the world but that pile of yakdung that had somehow learned to speak.

Oblivious to Astrid's change in demeanor, Snotlout stood and began walking towards her. "Why resist what is meant to be? I know you aren't stupid, so do the smart thing." He got down to his knees, his arms spread wide as he smiled up at her. "I'm right here, all you gotta do is take me."

 _'Hiccup went and got himself killed like the useless idiot we all knew he was_ _._ _'_ The words kept replaying themselves over and over in Astrid's head as she stared back at Snotlout. Her face betrayed none of the turmoil that was roiling through her thoughts. _'Hiccup went and got himself killed_ _._ _'_

She snapped. The chill of the air seemed to vanish as her anger rose to a boiling point. Her face contorted and she lunged forward, dropping the bucket and grabbing ahold of Snotlout's jerkin by the collar. She vaguely heard cries of surprise from a couple of nearby villagers, but she was long past caring as she forced the boy into a standing position and slammed him against the shed wall.

"Snotlout." Her words were coming out in a low growl as she poured the anger and disgust she felt into her voice. "I would marry any of the guys you mentioned before you. I would present my shield to the chief and become a shield maiden before I would marry you." There were worried murmurs coming from the small crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle, but Astrid disregarded them once again. "And for the record, Hiccup was ten times the warrior, ten times the Viking that you will _ever_ be."

Fuming, Astrid stomped back to the well and, after refilling the final bucket, stormed off towards her home. _Ten times the Viking… did I mean that?_ The anger that had filled her mind began to dissipate. _Hiccup, you were much more than any of us ever gave you credit for, weren't you?_ A small smile found its way onto her face, much to her surprise. _Yeah, I guess I did mean it._

The villagers parted rapidly to let Astrid through, whispering among themselves and looking back and forth between the furious woman and the somewhat shocked Snotlout.

His stunned expression didn't last long, however, and was soon replaced by a much more familiar cocky grin. He readjusted his clothing and spoke quietly to himself. "Pff, ten times the Viking? Whatever, you don't mean that. Playing like you don't want me, I get it." He strutted back towards his own home, filled to the brim with confidence in spite of Astrid's rejection. If she wanted to play rough he would play rough. She'd come around in time, he was sure of it.

* * *

Even with the chicken fiasco a couple days ago, Berk remained an uncharacteristically cheerful place. People were beginning to think that the dragons might have gone for good. Perhaps they were destroyed by a great storm, or they found someone else to terrorize. Whatever the reason, the people of Berk had celebrated with a small festival today. There had been feasting, poems, stories, and even a couple of good-natured fights. The air of the village had been so light and happy, and as Astrid grabbed her axe and rushed outside to the sound of battle, she wished that happy place could be the norm.

She hit the heavy sheets of water and gritted her teeth as the bitterly cold rain instantly leeched any warmth from her body. It was highly unusual for dragons to raid during such weather, but that made it all the worse for Berk, there had been almost no lookouts posted. Breaking into a sprint, she headed towards the closest silhouette she could make out, gripping her shield tightly and preparing herself for war.

* * *

Stoick smacked the latest scaly menace off of the catapult's platform, roaring out a challenge into the smoke-filled night air. This was the only time he felt alive anymore: in battle against the monsters that had taken his son from him. He let loose a booming laugh as the catapult fired, its payload nailing a Gronkle and forcing it to drop the sheep it was trying to haul off to Gods know where.

Feeling a presence behind him, Stoick turned faster than a man of his girth ought to be able to, swinging his hammer in an arc and catching the Nightmare's chin. The dragon let out a surprised squawk and reared back, hissing and opening its mouth wide. Stoick leapt forward and wrapped his arms around the beast's jaws, slamming it into the ground headfirst and pinning it with his weight.

"You're just like the one he was going to kill. My Hiccup was going to grow and crush every one of you disgusting beasts." Stoick held the Nightmare down by its throat, his other hand grasping his hammer and holding it over his head in preparation to strike.

"But you had to go and take him from me before his time. You had no right!" Stoick roared down at the pinned creature, his vision clouded by the red mists of hatred.

The Nightmare struggled as its eyes widened in the face of Stoick's wrath. All semblance of fight gone as it tried to flee the terrifying image of the Hooligan chief. Stoick just laughed and swung the hammer down with all his grief behind the blow.

The sound of splintering wood confused Stoic. Dragon skulls didn't sound like that. He'd missed. He'd missed, but he no longer cared about the Nightmare he held to the ground. Stoic had heard another sound. The high-pitched wail that signaled an incoming-

"Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

The yells of villagers to hit the dirt came seconds before the telltale sound of a Night Fury shooting a purple bolt of helfire. Stoick fell to the side, releasing the Nightmare as the whole tower shook from the impact. Feeling the platform was about to collapse, Stoick yelled to the other's manning the catapult to get clear before leaping to safety himself.

"Night Fury." Stoick growled as he stood to his feet. "There you are." Wiping the rain from his eyes, he let out another bloodthirsty roar and charged headlong into the fray.

* * *

Mud splattered Astrid's face as she leapt back from the large Nightmare, barely avoiding the snapping jaws. The dragon's body hissed and sputtered as flames danced across its skin, battling the constant rain. Enraged beyond caring about the weather, it pursued the retreating Viking with a snarl.

Astrid jumped to the side, dodging another bite and swinging her axe in a deadly downward ark. The monster before her growled and reared back as the heavy weapon connected, the blade biting into one of its horns and shearing it right off. Her small victory was short lived however, and the Nightmare's tail swept around and smashed into her stomach, knocking the wind from her lungs and sending her flying backwards into the wall of a nearby house.

Gasping for breath, Astrid pushed herself off the soaked wood and charged the dragon once again. Instead of pulling back as she had expected, the dragon lunged forward, slipping under her axe blade and tackling her to the ground. A sharp pain lanced down her arm as long fangs sank into her shoulder. With a cry, she bashed her shield into the beast's head several times trying to force it to let go, but it refused and only attempted to bite down harder.

A spear seemed to sprout from the back of the monster. Astrid gasped in relief as the strong jaws let her go, allowing her to roll to her knees. A hand materialized in front of her and she took it with her uninjured arm, pulling herself up to her feet to look into the worried face of Ruffnut.

Shouting to make herself heard, Ruffnut grinned. "Hey! Is the princess in need of a rescue?"

"Oh, I'll 'princess' you." Raising her shield to cover the both of them from the stream of fire that the dragon had shot their way, Astrid rolled her eyes and grimaced. "Thanks, Ruff."

With a nod, Ruffnut's face became serious, and she drew a dagger and ran to the side to try and flank the wounded Nightmare. She jumped over a tail swipe and began taunting the dragon.

Astrid rolled her shoulder lightly, hissing as the pain flared in response. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. Eyes open, Astrid!_ Pushing the discomfort to the back of her mind, she advanced with her shield raised.

Growling and slinking backwards away from the two Vikings, the Nightmare whimpered as the embedded spear shifted with her movements. The dancing flames flickered and died in the rain, their fuel spent, and her anger was supplanted by fear. As the two Vikings drew closer, one with a knife poised to kill, she could see no manner of escape. The cold rain leeching the warmth and will to fight from her body, she closed her eyes and tried to make herself small.

Before either Viking could strike, the air was rent with an earsplitting crack as a purple ball of fire and lightning exploded between the combatants. The sudden flash of heat caused Ruffnut to yelp in surprise, and forced Astrid behind her shield. When she looked up, she found herself face to face with a snarling, black-as-midnight dragon. He breath caught in her throat and she froze. _And now that Night Fury will kill me. I'm sorry, Hiccup…_

Somewhere behind the Night Fury, Astrid could hear the Nightmare whimpering and crooning. The spear Ruffnut had thrown into its back flew out to the side and landed in the mud. Trying to look around the black monster only yielded a snarl, though it didn't lunge forward and only moved defensively. Chancing a look at Ruffnut, she saw a reflection of her own confused expression.

The Nightmare suddenly crawled up the wooden wall behind it and slunk off, disappearing from sight. The rider of the Night Fury clambered back up onto his saddle, a dagger clenched in his fist and held in a fighting grip. Astrid's eyes snapped to his, and she saw sorrow. _…What?_ Hardly the eyes she'd expected to see behind the mask of a murderer, a demon. Though the blackened skin made much more sense for a servant of Hel.

The rider's eyes flicked between the two Viking women, and he slowly lowered his hands. One traveled down to the Night Fury's neck, and resulted in an immediate reduction in the constant growl that had been rumbling from its chest. The other, holding the dagger, relaxed and opened up, sheathing the blade and drawing away from the weapon.

An enraged roar cut through the uneasy silence, followed by a large, hairy, blur of a Viking leaping out from behind the Night Fury and slamming into the mounted rider. With a surprised yelp, the rider was torn from his saddle and bowled face first into the mud, an angry beyond reason Stoick the Vast driving his weight down and raising his hammer above his head.

Stoick's hammer had barely begun to fall when it was ripped from his hands by the jaws of the Night Fury and tossed away. The furious dragon smacked Stoick off of his rider with a single swipe of his paw. The chief's limp body landed headfirst against a wall, slumping down unmoving. Both Ruffnut and Astrid ran forward out of the instinctual drive to protect their own, Astrid's shoulder burning in protest as she pushed through the pain to lift her axe. The dragons tail swatted Ruffnut to the side with a meaty _thwump_ , sending her flying out of sight to Astrid's left.

Continuing to charge forward alone, Astrid felt a blast of heat as a purple fireball hit her shield dead center and propelled her backwards over a small ledge. She landed painfully several feet down, near the edge of the cliff. As she hit the ground, she vaguely felt the vibration of her weakened shield splintering against a rocky outcropping. Her ears ringing, gasping for air, she felt a heavy weight pressing down on her chest. She opened her eyes to see the rider making frantic hand motions at the Night Fury currently holding her down. It seemed like the rider was speaking, but she couldn't make out any intelligible words.

Even with the Night Fury removing his paw, Astrid's entire body ached. As her senses rushed back, she tried to grip her axe only to find that it was no longer in her hand. Looking up, she saw the rider gingerly holding her weapon, his gaze poring over the blade.

With a titanic effort, she drew her legs towards her chest and kicked upwards, the rest of her body following the path through the air. Her muscles screamed in protest, but she ignored them and launched herself at the rider. He had no right to have his filthy, dragon-loving mitts on Hiccup's axe. _Her_ axe.

The rider's eyes broke from the axe and widened in surprise as Astrid's shoulder connected with his stomach. He grunted in pain and crumpled, giving her an opening to grab his dagger and slip it underneath his helmet's faceplate to press against his neck. Then she stopped.

If anyone had asked her in that moment why she had stopped and not just slit his throat then and there, she wouldn't have had an answer. Maybe it was the fact that the Night Fury didn't attack her immediately, but held its position when the rider raised his hand to stop it. Maybe she felt that since he had spared her, she was compelled to let him have some last words, or some such nonsense. Or maybe it was because she got a close up look at his very green eyes.

Whatever the reason, Astrid hesitated, and the rider's hands slowly rose and opened in a gesture of surrender.

 _I'm going to kill him. It. Whatever._

His green eyes were staring into hers, unwavering in their intensity. The point of the dagger pressed down and still he maintained eye contact.

 _This thing is unnatural. It is our enemy. It saves dragons. It kills us._ Astrid's grip tightened on the hilt, her normally solid hand wavering slightly with indecision. Her lips cracked open, and she spoke in a strained voice.

"I'm going to slit your throat; you hear me? Even if your devil manages to kill me, the rest of Berk will rip it apart in vengeance." She hated how not even her speech would cooperate and stay steady. _Come on, Astrid, it's not that hard._ "It won't take any more of us. Last words, demon?"

The Night Fury growled, almost like it had understood her. There was a flash of humor in the rider's green eyes, followed by sadness and pain. A whisper reached Astrid's ears, slightly muffled by the mask.

"I'm sorry, m'lady."

 _'Sorry'? Does h-it think that an apology will make it all okay?_ Before her thoughts could go any further, the rider struck. Fast as a coiled serpent, one hand parried Astrid's dagger-wielding hand away from his throat, the blade leaving her hand and sailing over the cliff edge, towards the water. His other strike went across his body and straight for her injured shoulder. He drove his knuckles into the torn and bloody marks left by the Nightmare's teeth, letting the torque from the strike twist his body upwards. Drawing his legs up underneath him, he lashed one foot out to kick her away.

The dull ache in Astrid's shoulder exploded as the half-fist connected. She howled in agony, instinctively pulling back from the source of pain, she felt a foot ram into her chest and send her reeling. Trying to regain her balance, she threw her hands out to grab at the rain-slicked rock of the cliff edge. Her injured arm buckled and the rock came up to meet her face with a loud _crack_. She felt herself rolling, but could not muster the strength to stop. As the pressure of the ground seemed to vanish, she thought she heard a panicked voice cry out her name.

There was wind pushing against her face, whipping loose strands of hair aside. Falling. She was falling. She'd lost the one fight that mattered, and now she was falling towards the sea. Someone was screaming, she wished they would stop. Her mind felt sluggish, her vision blurred with tears or rain, she didn't know and didn't care. If she was unlucky, she might even survive the fall long enough to feel it.

The roaring in her hears seemed to lessen, and she realized just how _tired_ she felt. Her eyes closed and a fog closed in around her. A thought came to her as the world fell away. _I don't want to die…_ She was so tired though, if she were unconscious when she hit the rocks, maybe it wouldn't hurt.

The last thing she felt before darkness took her wasn't what she expected. Something grabbed her leg.

* * *

 _"Astrid, go! I'll hold him off, just run!"_

 _Hiccups face was panicked as he stood between the Night Fury and Astrid. He opened his mouth and said something she knew that he hadn't said on the day he died._

 _"I'm sorry-"_

 _Hiccup's face changed. He had been despondent after he was chosen to kill the Nightmare. He barely ate, and excused himself from the gaggle of congratulatory Vikings as soon as he could. On that night, Astrid had been too furious with him to notice just how sad he looked. Nobody else noticed either; they were too busy praising him to actually look at him and_ see _._

 _As Hiccup left the hall, Astrid wanted to follow, but she couldn't. Her past decisions rooted her to her seat. She closed her eyes. She felt a hand on her cheek, feather light and so very comforting, but it's gone before she fully realizes it was there. She misses it._

 _She opened her eyes to see Hiccup smiling goofily at her in the dragon arena, wearing a helmet that was too big and holding a shield that seemed like it should tip him over. Before either could say anything, the shield shattered and torrential rain began to fall._

 _The dragon rider and his Night Fury fell from the sky and grabbed Hiccup. They carried him away, though he didn't struggle, leaving Astrid to watch from the cliffside. The rider turned to look at her and bowed from the waist._

 _"-m'lady."_

 _The cliff edge crumbled away, and Astrid fell into darkness._

Astrid's eyes opened and she saw a rough wooden ceiling dimly lit by flickering firelight. Her body felt stiff, and it resisted the smallest of movements, even breathing was a labor. Looking around slowly, she saw her armor had been removed and placed off to the side. Her axe was there too, leaning up against the wall of the small hut. There was a small hearth in the center of the room, a small, merry fire crackling away and providing her with warmth.

"-saw them himself! There is summat not right with her."

The loud whisper wafted in on the cold night wind, reaching Astrid's ears and causing her to still. Straining her ears, she listened in with bated breath, tensing her sore muscles should she have to run.

A different voice answered the first in the whispered same tone. "Tha' lass in there is the furthest thing from a dragon sympathizer I've ever seen! I danna' care wha' your boy thinks he saw, Spitelout, yer wrong."

Okay, so she was on Berk. That was comforting, she guessed that she must be in Gothi's hut. _Wait, dragon sympathizer?_

The first voice, Spitelout, was speaking now. "He saw the girl with a dagger to that rider's throat and _she didn' kill him_ , Gobber. The Night Fury didn' hurt her either! And what's more, the rider saved her from falling off the cliffs and carried her to the steps of the healing hut! They clearly know each other, and the rider fights for dragons. How can she _not_ be on their side?"

"I'd say tha' the dagger to the throat kinda implies they aren't on the best of terms, don'tcha think?" Gobber replied dryly.

"Enough." A third voice, deep and commanding interrupted their whispered argument. "We'll keep an eye on her, but tha's all fer now. Don't let her know either; we need ta see what she does."

"But Stoick-"

"I said _enough_ , Spitelout. As much as that girl pains me, she's never struck me as someone who wouldn't kill a dragon the first chance she got. Maybe you're right, and we'll certainly keep tha' in mind. Let tha' be the end of it for now."

Her mind racing, Astrid panicked slightly as the sound of movement from the same direction as the whisper. She quickly closed her eyes and tried to regulate her breathing. Two sets of heavy footsteps made their way down the wooden staircase and faded away. A third set, which she knew to be Gobber's courtesy of his uneven gait, made its way into the hut.

"Gothi, lemme know when she wakes, eh? Not Stoick, me. Poor lass is banged up enough as it is, doesn't need to be interrogated first thing."

There was a silence broken only by the occasional crackle of the flames, followed by Gobber's attempt at a stealthy exit. After Astrid could no longer hear him, she opened her eyes and let out a shaky breath. She hadn't seen Snotlout while she had fought the rider, but she had been so tunnel-visioned that she probably would have missed Ragnarök.

 _The rider saved me? Carried me here?_ Her mind was swirling with the conversation she had overheard; it just didn't make any sense. Sure, the rider hadn't tried his hardest to kill her, but he'd hit her off the cliff in the first place. That hardly made them the best of chums. _But he carried me here._ Though the source of that particular little fact was Snotlout, so she wasn't sure if she believed it quite yet. _But why would he make that up?_

A sudden shuffling noise startled her out of her thoughts, and she sat up much faster than she should have. Nearly blacking out, she fell back on to the small cot. She looked over towards the fire, and found that the source of the noise was Gothi moving to ladle some sort of liquid into a bowl.

The small woman turned towards her and helped Astrid sit up slowly, offering the steaming bowl of what seemed to be soup. She took the bowl and leant against the wall of the hut, looking up at the village elder as she took a sip. The soup wasn't that bad, really, a bit watery but she'd take it.

Gothi's face wore an expression of satisfaction, and she gestured for Astrid to keep drinking. She complied, her focus returning to her troubled thoughts.

Before she returned to her turbulent sleep, Astrid resolved to carry her axe with her wherever she went.

* * *

A/N: Blimey, a month between updates, that's not very good, is it? Sorry about that :/

Though I would like to say that unless the story has a great big ***ABANDONED*** sign on the front of it, it isn't abandoned. It might be a while between updates sometimes due to school, work, or my own personal stupidity, but if there is no abandoned sign and it's not marked as complete, then it's not over.

Where the Winds Go has broken 50 followers! I know, real small number, but the idea that over 50 real life people liked my silly little story enough to follow its progress makes a little, dumb smile worm its way onto my face.

Replies (which I _really_ should do):  
-MattAShine: Thank you muchlies. I look forward to seeing where it goes too ;)  
-lara5170: Aww, thanks. Hotccup is certainly coming by virtue of the simple fact that people change over time. However, just as a point of principle, in canon he _was_ seen as useful before he had his growth spurt.  
-Clb9000 (Guest?): An interesting plot thread, certainly. Regardless of whether or not that is what ends up happening, I wouldn't want to skip over so much. I'd rather write that out.

Oh, and an explanation for Eterna1Soldier's point regarding the intelligence of dragons: In this story at least, dragons are, in general, quite smart. They still follow their instincts as all animals do, however they are capable of learning to respond to very complex commands, and Toothless' responses to Hiccup's on-the-fly commands while in raids are a combination of training and logic. Toothless understands the goal for the most part, put that together with Hiccup's instructions, and his own capacity to reason, and you get sometimes very intelligent behaviour. Toothless is something of a special case in that regard, and it varies between species and sometimes individual dragons. I treat Toothless as a very nearly human character, to the point where there may be segments of the story told from his viewpoint (shh, spoilers ;p). Hopefully that clears up any little misunderstandings (and made sense in general). And thank you for your kind words :)

A huge thank you to my good friend Luna1100 on Tumblr for being my beta for this. Probably wouldn't have posted it without you.

Please send any and all constructive criticism, I've no idea what I'm doing. I really do enjoy getting reviews, feedback helps me out a great deal.

Thank you to all the reviewers and everyone who followed, favorited, or read. Thank you very much :)


	7. Dawn

For two that I hold in the highest esteem: E-Wills, and Monty Oum.

Disclaimer: HTTYD really isn't mine guys, I swear.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Dawn**

 _I am an idiot._ Hiccup could feel the irritation emanating from Toothless as they flew back towards Berk. He had every right to be miffed, Hiccup had really pushed the limits this time, and all either of them wanted to do was sleep. But then instead of doing something sensible, Hiccup had decided to push Astrid, of all people, off of a cliff. He'd also managed to render her unconscious and bloodied. While both things are very Viking things to do, it's bad manners to combine them.

Luckily, they had managed to catch her before she hit the rocks, or the ocean. Well, _Toothless_ had managed to catch her, and Hiccup promised that his friend would get a whole pile of the best fish for it. He knew that Toothless was exhausted, he was too, but they couldn't exactly leave with Astrid. _Well, we could, she could help us, learn with us, get her own dragon…_ He knew it was just wishful thinking though. Berk wouldn't accept the dragons as it was, and Astrid belonged on Berk, she was a Viking warrior through and through. Berk was her home. She was strong, popular, _useful._

And she was currently in his arms, propped up against him so she didn't fall from the saddle. Hiccup really found her terribly distracting, just as he had before. The heat on his face refused to go away. _Just post-battle adrenaline, absolutely. Totally not the beautiful girl that you're holding just like you still dream abo-stop it. Bad Hiccup._ With a shake of his head, he tried to think of other things. Dragons. Weapon designs. Sleeping in a real bed courtesy of Thuggory. Other things that could happen on a bed with a certain blon- _stoppit!_

He really needed to get her back to Berk. While he'd made sure that she wasn't in immediate danger, she needed real medical attention. He'd put her somewhere that would look natural, but where she would be found soon. _Her axe_. He'd have to get that too. A smile flitted across his soot-streaked features. She was using his axe, the one he'd made for her. She might not know that's what it was, but that possibility didn't stop his treacherous heart from fluttering slightly.

 _Gods, I'm hopeless._ Hiccup focused his mind as they returned to Berk's airspace. The raid was over, and the likelihood of them being spotted was fairly low, but he was not letting his guard down again tonight. The storm had abated somewhat in the time he'd waited, a small mercy. The rain was much lighter, though no warmer, and his visibility had increased three-fold. He scanned the village, searching for the best place to set Astrid up.

After nearly a minute of deliberation, Hiccup guided Toothless downward. The dragon landed behind a house with much less grace than normal. Head drooping and chest heaving, Toothless remained standing by force of will alone. They were still in enemy territory; they may have to fly any second.

Hiccup carefully lifted Astrid down from the saddle. One arm under her knees, the other around her shoulders, he pushed his aching legs forward. Making sure there was nobody else around, he took her to a half-destroyed hut. There were claw marks in the wooden walls and clear signs of combat in the mud. An unconscious body wouldn't be out of place here, and she would be in sight range of one of the normal patrol routes.

Taking care to let her down gently, Hiccup dragged Astrid's legs through the mud before propping her up against one of the support beams. Her head lolled to the side, prompting him to carefully position it upright. Even with the traces of blood and grime, and a rapidly bruising face that caused a worm of guilt to writhe uncomfortably in his stomach, she looked peaceful. For a moment, it was as if it could be a better time. No death, no pain, no war, Vikings living in peace with dragons.

Standing with great effort, Hiccup quickly ran to the cliff to retrieve Astrid's axe. Picking up the weapon, he had conflicting thoughts war in his mind. On one hand, he was very happy that she was using something that _he'd_ made. On the other, there was more than likely dragon's blood on its blade. _It helps to protect her in the end, and if she didn't have this one she'd have a different one._

As he headed back to Toothless and Astrid, his skin began to crawl. Looking around and peering into the darkness he could see nothing, but he could not shake the feeling that he wasn't alone. Walking slightly faster, his hand automatically went for his dagger before he remembered that it was at the bottom of the ocean somewhere. _Wonderful. Way to go._ Astrid's axe was comforting, even though he wouldn't be able to use it terribly well in the event of a fight.

Rounding the corner, Hiccup was relieved to see that Astrid was still lying there. Placing the axe down, he gently wrapped her fingers around the haft. He stayed there for a second, just looking down at her. _You're being weird, Hiccup._ With a quiet chuckle, he forced himself to leave her there and head back to Toothless. Greeting his tired friend with a scratch, he pressed his forehead to the dragon's shoulder.

"Let's scram." Hiccup hauled himself up onto the saddle and, with a murmur of encouragement, took to the rapidly brightening skies.

* * *

As his mind clawed its way into consciousness, Hiccup decided that he wouldn't push it during raids so much anymore. With waking came the pain inherited from last night's fighting. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he noticed that his stomach was hurting again. He placed his hand over the pained area and was surprised to find that he was still wearing his armor. _Was I really that tired?_ Laughing softly at himself, he braced his hands on the dirt ground to assist in the process of sitting up. _…Dirt?_

Hiccup's eyes shot open and he sat up far faster than he should have, causing pain to lance through him. Casting his eyes around in a panic, he saw natural looking stone walls, a pond, the tops of trees over the walls bathed in golden sunlight. Toothless, who had been curled up next to him, leapt to his feet at the sudden movement, looking around for the danger.

Shaking his head, Hiccup consoled the agitated reptile. "Sorry bud, forgot where we were. It's fine, no danger." He wasn't lying; he'd completely forgotten that they had landed in the same cove that they'd met in. He was fairly certain that he'd fallen asleep before he even hit the ground.

Toothless rolled his eyes and snorted in annoyance before waltzing off to the pond to look for a snack. His petulant-child behavior prompted a bark of laughter from Hiccup, who immediately winced and grunted. Toothless, hearing the noise of pain immediately turned and bounded back towards his rider, warbling softly.

As he unbuckled the side of his chest armor, Hiccup noticed that a large amount of his face paint had been washed away by last night's rain, streaking over his armor and giving him a streaked black mantle. Slipping a hand underneath his shirt, he felt a warm, sticky wetness. Withdrawing a now bloodied hand, he sighed. "Fantastic. Thug is gonna kill me for tearing that open… again." The arrow he'd taken in the last Meathead raid had been patched up by one of the village healers, but it hadn't quite healed yet. The last time he'd torn his sutures out, Thuggory had blown his lid.

It was nice to be cared about.

Hiccup rose slowly, patting Toothless' snout and murmuring assurances. It was getting darker; he'd slept right through the daylight hours. He shrugged and retrieved some preserved meat from the saddle's small satchel. Slipping off the island would easier under cover of darkness anyway. Munching on his meager breakfast, he walked with Toothless towards the pond. Maybe he'd have better luck catching the fish this time.

When the sky had darkened enough that Hiccup was certain they wouldn't be spotted, they left the cove. As they rose into the rapidly cooling night air, he looked down towards the village. They would have found her, right? No matter how often he told himself that she'd be fine, there was always that small, nagging doubt that maybe she wasn't okay. He hadn't _seen_ her okay, he'd seen her battered and bloody.

 _I am an idiot_. Hiccup had to check. Directing Toothless downward, he flew towards the place he'd left her. As they drew closer to the village, Toothless started making confused sounds that Hiccup shushed with a reassuring pat. Passing over the half-destroyed hut, which was already partially rebuilt, he saw no blonde haired body and breathed a sigh of relief.

As he turned them towards Gothi's hut, he reflected that he should leave now. She'd been found, she was probably fine. … _And if she isn't?_ One of these days he was going to have to sit down with his brain and have a real long talk about this. Mentally berating himself as they drew closer, he couldn't see anyone around the outside of the spire of rock upon which the hut sat.

Hiccup sighed and murmured an apology. "Sorry Toothless… but I'm about to do something supremely stupid." He pulled back, leading to Toothless' small sounds of protest being silenced as they slowed. Landing just below Gothi's hut, Hiccup slid down from the saddle. "I'll be really fast, bud, I promise." Toothless gave Hiccup an incredulous look before shaking his head and climbing around the other side of the supporting struts, vanishing into the darkness.

Quietly maneuvering up to the front of the hut, Hiccup could see flickering firelight coming through the crack in the door. Pressing his ear to the door he could dimly make out the crackle of a small fire, and shuffling footsteps coming towards him. His heart in his mouth, he flattened himself against the wall to the side of the door just as it opened.

Gothi stepped out into the night, took a deep breath, and closed the door behind her. Making her way carefully down towards the village, she paused for just long enough to make Hiccup seriously consider bolting, before continuing on her way, humming a jaunty little tune as she did so.

Several tense seconds passed before Hiccup dared to breathe again. Swallowing, he moved back towards the door and gingerly opening it. _I'm just going to look in and see if she's there. Then I'm going to leave. Just peek in and-_ His thoughts stopped dead when he finally did lay eyes on Astrid. Her armor had been removed, her wounds bandaged, and the grime of battle wiped away. Though her body was relaxed and her eyes were closed, her face was contorted with discomfort.

Heart fluttering and brow furrowed, Hiccup entered the hut and crouched down next to the sleeping girl. He looked her over more carefully, again feeling a pang of guilt at the bruising and abrasions on her face. _You did that, real nice move there._ Her breathing was somewhat labored, and any slightly paler-than-normal skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

Hiccup watched as a hand came into his field of vision and brushed its fingertips ever so softly over her marred cheek. Upon realizing that it was _his_ hand, he froze. His arm remained outstretched as he scoured his mind for the train of thought that had led to him thinking that this was a good idea.

She stirred in her sleep and he jumped back, his hand flying away from her face as if he'd been burned. _I've really got to get out of here._ Again he held his breath, staying stock still as she seemed to settle. As he backed out of the door, he idly noted that her face was more relaxed. Closing the door with as much care as he could muster, he let out a held breath and leant his forehead against the rough wood. He closed his eyes and remained there for a few seconds, trying to gather the scraps of his self-control before turning to leave.

Running back down to Toothless' hiding place, he whisper-called out to his friend. "Toothless, where are you?" A large pair of eyes snapped open directly in front of him. Starting and nearly falling off of the small platform, Hiccup recovered and stuck his tongue out at the dragon. "Haha, very funny. Come on, let's get outta here before I do something _really_ dumb."

Toothless rumbled in amusement and butted his head against Hiccup's chest before letting him climb into the saddle. Spreading his wings, he jumped into the night and left for the island.

* * *

Despite Thuggory's impassioned insistence that he was welcome to stay with the Meatheads, Hiccup still spent the majority of his free time on the island. The small rock was a safe place, somewhere he could go and be fully himself. Sure, Thuggory was fast becoming a good friend once again, but having to keep his mask on around the rest of the Meatheads prevented him from fully letting his guard down. On the island, which he really needed to name at some point, he could let go. That is, unless a certain no-good, needy reptile had arbitrarily decided that he wasn't going to get anything done for the next hour.

For all his griping, Hiccup did enjoy going out flying for something other than battle. Flying with Thuggory and his nightmare, Thuggory beating him up (hand to hand 'training' he called it), going fishing, or just plain old exploring had proved a welcome relief during the recent lull in raid activity. A lull that he suspected to be caused by the Meatheads killing so many in one go, but he tried his hardest to forget that detail. The doses of 'normalcy' allowed him to pretend that there was no war, that maybe Berk had accepted dragons, and he was going back home when the sun set. Then his shoulders would slump, and he'd wear a small, sad smile as he and Toothless turned towards 'home'.

It was coming back from his first outing after the Meathead massacre raid that he'd discovered his current focus. A large lump of shining metal, deposited to the side of the cave mouth that seemed largely impervious to his available tools. Granted, he wasn't the strongest Viking to ever lift a blacksmithing hammer, but striking the strange glob didn't even leave a scratch, much less any meaningful deformation.

Intrigued, Hiccup had asked Toothless what he thought. Toothless' fittingly sarcastic response was an eye roll before trying and eat it. _Useless reptile has no appreciation for good blacksmithing._ Well, that wasn't exactly true, they were working out a system for heating metals using Toothless' flame as a focused heating flame. Hiccup's pant leg had only caught fire a couple of times.

It was with a chunk of the strange metal that Hiccup was currently working. He'd had Toothless melt several pieces off of the glob for him, and with the newfound access to proper smithing tools (again courtesy of Thuggory) manipulating the semi-molten metal was child's play. When heated, it behaved more or less like iron, only slightly more difficult to work. The first test object he'd made had been a new connecting rod for Toothless' flying rig, and it had ended up being much lighter than the previous rod.

Hiccup took his current chunk of metal over to Toothless, who was happily scarfing down raw fish. Using the tongs to hold the half formed blade out, he gave Toothless a grin. "Hey lazybutt, when you've got a second you wanna give me a two?"

Toothless swallowed his most recent conquest before igniting a relatively low intensity flame. Maintaining the small jet of fire was tricky, but he was getting better at it every time.

"Little hotter please, bud?"

Or so he thought, anyway. Obliging with nary an eye roll, Toothless increased the flow of fuel and held as still as he could manage. After a few seconds, Hiccup withdrew the glowing metal and walked back into the cave towards the forge with a 'thank you' called out over his shoulder. Giving a small rumble in reply, Toothless went back to eating. His human did some strange things, but he was _his_ human, and his friend.

* * *

When Hiccup arrived the Meathead Islands, he immediately noticed the small congregation of people in the village center. As he got closer, he began hear their irate yelling about something or other and sighed. In the middle of the group was a lone figure with his hands held up in a placating stance. _Thuggory._ A small smile gracing his covered face, Hiccup took Toothless into a dive towards the impending brouhaha. _Might as well make an entrance of it._

The switch from killing dragons to trying to let them be had been a rocky one for the Meatheads. Some people accepted the new way of life as one might accept that the weather has changed. Others clung to the old ways stubbornly, refusing to even entertain the idea of there being any other way. Thuggory having convinced his father certainly helped, but they were _Vikings_ , they had stubbornness issues.

Toothless let out a cry and began to spiral on their way down, his wings fully extended. Leveling out as they neared the ground, he slowed their descent and landed amongst the assembled Vikings, causing a few of them to step back with mistrust written all over their faces. Hiccup straightened in the saddle as Toothless closed his wings, and gave a small salute.

"Good pastnoon, Thuggory." Sweeping his gaze over the others present he recognized several of them, and gave them friendly nods in greeting. Climbing down from the saddle, he gave Toothless a pat, eliciting a gentle rumble, before moving to hug the Meathead heir.

"You, sir, are late." Thuggory's face split into a grin and he threw his armed around Hiccup. His voice lowered as they embraced, taking on a much more urgent tone. "Where the hell have you been? Things aren't exactly stable here, and Toothless very obviously not attacking people is very helpful in trying to convince these idiots."

Hiccup gave Thuggory a pat on the back. "Go and get Killer, I think it's time." Pulling back before Thuggory could argue, Hiccup looked around to the primary instigator and bowed slightly. The unpleasant old man stiffened as Hiccup spoke to him in a polite tone as Thuggory made a quiet exit. "Good pastnoon, Mensk, what seems to be the trouble?"

Mensk scowled. "You. You and yer dragon allies that have been killin' us for hundreds o' years. And if you think that I'm gonna break bread with either them or you, ye must be mad as well as soft in the 'ead."

As other Vikings began to voice their support or opposition of the old man's words, Hiccup simply sighed. Despite his best efforts, and multiple demonstrations by himself and Toothless, there were still holdouts. Of course there were. He wasn't surprised, just resigned to it. _Come on, Thuggory, any day now._

With Thuggory still fetching his dragon, Hiccup had to form a plan of attack on his own. _Step one, stall._ "Ya'know, dragons don't actually _eat_ bread. You can keep the bread all for yourself with them around, no bread-breaking needed."

"Har har, spare me yer flippancy, boy." Mensk took a step forward to get in Hiccup's face, a move that Toothless bristled at. Mensk grinned. "Not that well trained, is 'e, boy?" Turning to address the crowd, he raised his voice. "Because dragons are animals. Demons. Only way ye get 'em to follow ye is by turnin' to dark powers yourself." He spun back towards Hiccup to leer at him. "And tha', is what this 'Erlend' has done. He wants us to let the dragons in so tha' we sleep easy, then they can slit our throats in the night. We scared 'em when we took 'em by surprise and killed so many of 'em, so they are tryin' a new tactic."

Hiccup bit his lip, placing a hand on Toothless' head in a signal to still. "I should have known that Vikings would consider peace and friendship 'dark powers.'" _Thuggory, where in Hel's name are you?_ "If I wanted you dead, all I had to do is actually fight beside the dragons. Let me ask you this: since the first sighting of me, barring that tragic stunt you pulled that got so many on both sides killed, how many dragons have been captured or slain?"

Mensk blinked, then scowled. "None, yeh've seen to tha'."

"Right, and how many Meatheads have been killed in the same time?"

When Mensk said nothing, someone behind him piped up. "…None."

Raising both arms out to the side and cocking his head, Hiccup smiled behind his mask. "And who made that happen?"

There were murmurs, whispered questions and arguments as Vikings deliberated Hiccup's words. Mensk growled and clenched his fists. Hiccup could practically see the wheels turning in his head, rusted and disused as they were. _Can you just… not? Just this once?_

As Mensk opened his mouth in rebuttal, the sound of large wing beats cut through the air. Hiccup relaxed and leaned against Toothless, waiting. Many of those nearby took a couple steps back, as the Monstrous Nightmare came in to land. Several alarmed yells and calls for weapons went up before the newly revealed rider made itself known in a clear commanding voice.

"Good pastnoon, Meatheads!" A grinning Thuggory sat on the back of the Nightmare, _his_ Nightmare. As they landed, he patted the side of the slightly nervous dragon's neck, crooning softly.

 _They'll trust him more than me; I hope that's enough_. Hiccup had to bite his tongue to quell the bubble of laughter that was threatening to escape upon seeing many of the Meathead's faces. Some had traces of fear, a couple had smiles, but most had dropped jaws and various degrees of disbelief. His own mind was in the process of relaxing, with a little bit of smug satisfaction thrown in. _Surprise_.

After his urge to burst out laughing subsided, Hiccup looked back to Thuggory and gave him a casual salute. "Nice of you to join us, Thug. Mensk here was just telling me how I control dragons by making deals with dark powers." As Thuggory raised a dramatic eyebrow, Hiccup tried very hard to keep his tone as serious as possible. "I'm sure he didn't mean to imply that you, his future chief, made such a heinous deal, right Mensk?" Turning back towards the rapidly whitening Mensk, Hiccup couldn't help but smirk.

Mensk opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking between Thuggory and Hiccup with wide eyes. Several seconds of tense silence passed before his face regained its color. Shifting to an angry red, he grit his teeth and managed to speak. "No. Not at all."

Thuggory slid from his saddle wearing a predator's grin. "Erlend is right. We have misunderstood dragons for hundreds of years. If someone came into your house and punched you in the face wouldn't you hit him back?"

The assembly, which had grown in size since Hiccup had landed, murmured in general agreement. Vikings were not known for their hospitality to those who paid them insult.

"Tha's all the dragons did, they hit back. And Erlend has told you all o' this, but we're Vikings, I'm not surprised you don' believe him. I didn't either at first, you all know that I've killed a fair few in my time." Thuggory continued, casually sauntering in front of Killer, giving the dragon a gentle pat in apology. "This dragon right here is my friend. His name is Killer, and he ain't attacking us or burnin' things down because we trust each n'other. And I haven't punched him in the face or ran at him with an axe, that helps too." With a murmur of encouragement and a pat on the chin, he got Killer to open his jaws wide. Not missing a beat, Thuggory stuck his head into the Nightmare's mouth and reached up to pull it partially closed.

When the Nightmare just sat there and very oddly didn't bite the heir in half, most of those present visibly relaxed. Their faces were still fearful, and their movements wary, but the open hostility was dissipating. Thuggory began making various rude hand gestures, earning a few chuckles from the crowd before pushing Killer's mouth open again and standing up. With the exception of Mensk and a couple of others, many seemed to be at least accepting that _this_ dragon wouldn't eat them. A few of the braver Vikings even shuffled slightly closer to the dragon, looking at it with something other than anger and hatred for a change. Sure, many had already accepted that perhaps dragons weren't what history painted them as, but Thuggory throwing his lot in and showing up _on dragonback_ had lent the strange 'Dragon Master's' assurances far more weight.

"See? No dark powers," Thuggory said with a pointed glance at Mensk, "jus' the same trust we Vikings have as battle brothers. And believe you me, if Erlend can teach _me_ to train a dragon, he can teach any one of you." His gaze turned to Hiccup as his little speech came to a close, and gave the subtlest of nods.

Hiccup's eyes widened slightly. Thuggory was suggesting that he teach others, people who didn't know him as Hiccup, to train dragons? To ride? The alarm horns in his head began blaring in earnest when he heard Thuggory announce that there would be a 'dragon academy,' and that anyone who wanted to befriend a dragon would be accepted and trained by Erlend. By _him_.

Words were spoken by both Thuggory and several of the congregated Vikings, Hiccup paid them little mind. Doubts were expressed and assuaged, and the more valid concerns were addressed with sincerity. Thuggory broke up the gathering shortly thereafter, calling out various good-natured insults about being lazy gossipmongers. Such jabs were returned in kind, and the Meatheads went on about their days. Mensk and a few others slunk off quietly, thunderous but cowed expressions on their faces.

"Sooo, Thug." Hiccup's voice was completely level as he slowly turned to his friend. "You wanna clue me in on what in Hel's name that was?"

"What? Dad already signed off on it, and I've gone and gotten all the kids excited abou' having their own wee dragons. Yeah, some people will take a bit longer to come 'round, but training with dragons will help tha' process." Thuggory said with a wide grin. He took a couple steps in Hiccup's direction and threw a half-hearted punch at his armored chest. "S'not like you can say no n-are you okay?"

The involuntary grunt of pain that had left Hiccup's lips had not escaped Thuggory's notice. A look of brotherly concern that flashed over his face, and he immediately grasped Hiccup's shoulders to steady him.

"Thug I'm fine, stop mother-henning me. There was a raid on Berk, I took a hit."

Thuggory looked unimpressed and grabbed Hiccup's arm before he could shy away. Dragging him off to the side and ducking into a gap between two huts before removing his helmet and beginning to unbuckle his leather chest piece. Toothless and Killer followed, and began having their own strange conversation, paying little heed to their riders.

"My my, Thuggory, but there's been no mundr, and no dowry. The scandal, people will talk."

"Killer is the dowry, and you'd refuse any mundr I tried to give ye." Thuggory's grin offset the mock seriousness of his words. He did not stop unbuckling Hiccup's armor however, and after one last feeble attempt to prevent it, Hiccup relented. Pulling the hardened leather aside, the sharp intake of breath hissed through Thuggory's teeth as his gaze fell upon the freshly dried, dark stain decorating the fabric.

"Hiccup." Thuggory's voice was low, and his face blank. "You tore your sutures."

It was a statement, not a question. Hiccup shrunk in on himself slightly, a rueful expression adorning his face as he slowly nodded. "Okay but this time it wasn't my fault. I really did get hit, that must have torn them."

"You're gonna get those redone by Kari before you even think about flying off again." When Hiccup nodded, Thuggory bowed his head and stepped back to lean against the wall. "So… it's started again."

"Yeah. And I don't know where they'll hit us next; the pattern is all messed up. I think they hit Berk only because it's closer to Helheim's Gate, but I don't know." Hiccup frowned and crossed his arms. "What are we going to do when they _do_ hit the Meatheads?"

Thuggory raised an eyebrow. "Ain't that your thing, oh Erlend the Dragon Master?"

"Oh ha-ha."

"Look, we'll speak ta my father about it _after_ you get patched up." Walking back out into the main village, Thuggory turned and waited for Hiccup to follow. "And you aren't allowed to bust those again or Thor help me I'm takin' away your flying privileges, young man."

Thuggory was good for him, Hiccup thought. The Meathead heir was very good at sneaking grins onto his face. Sporting one of said grins, Hiccup stuck his tongue out before replacing his helmet and followed Thuggory up the path to the healer's hut.

* * *

"I've gotten seven requests ta be part of the first dragon rider training class. _Seven_." Mogadon the Meathead's voice sounded tired. He was sitting at the head table of the great hall, one hand on a tankard of mead and the other pinching the bridge of his nose. "Thuggory, you were supposed to talk to Erlend about it _first_."

"I _did_ talk to him, dad, he's all good with it." Thuggory lied smoothly. He and 'Erlend' hadn't even had a chance to greet the Meathead chieftain before the exasperated voice had called out to them across the empty hall.

Mogadon sighed, taking a drink before responding in the same tired voice. "I may not know who he is under tha' mask, but I know he hasna' agreed to teach. His body language screams 'uncomfortable' and it's got nothin' to do with your odor." He rose and made his way around the table, extending a hand to the masked Hiccup in greeting. "Good pastnoon, Erlend. My apologies for my son, he gets excited."

Hiccup nodded and grasped the chief's forearm. "It's fine, but with all due respect sir, we have a bigger problem." Mogadon adopted a serious expression as Hiccup continued. "The raids have started again. Berk was hit a couple nights ago, and we need to come up with a plan of action for when they come back to the Meathead Islands."

With a nod, Mogadon took another swig. "Right. I don't suppose you can jus' tell the dragons to sod off, can you?" He said with a hint of wistfulness. When Hiccup shook his head he nodded again. "Thought as much. Could you two head them off with your dragons?"

Thuggory looked at Hiccup with a raised eyebrow, but Hiccup was already shaking his head. His hands on his hips, he explained. "I've tried that. The dragon pack doesn't listen to me." _Wait. If we had more dragons it might work_. "But I've only ever tried it with Toothless and myself. It might work with more; we'll give it a shot."

Eyes lighting up, Thuggory smirked. "Good thing I announced the dragon rider training, huh?"

Giving him a pointed glare, Hiccup continued. "There is absolutely no guarantee of that working, however. We need a backup plan."

"Dragon traps."

Hiccup blinked at Mogadon's proposal. "Again with all due respect, we're trying _not_ to fight them, remember?"

Shaking his head, Mogadon spoke. "You misunderstand. I mean capture them so that the new riders actually _have_ dragons to ride. We have some captured already, in the arena, and there are those wild dragons that you found, Erlend, but if we're gonna to have a lot of riders we'll need a lot of dragons."

"Several dedicated teams could do it, go around with nets and gang up on them five or ten to one." Thuggory said. "That way people won't get hurt."

Doubt clouded Hiccup's features. "I won't be training very many, sir. I think we should just leave them be. Lower the Storm Doors; hold up in the great hall. Thuggory and I will do our best to head them off, and nobody else has to risk themselves at all."

"The Meatheads won't like that." Hiccup's heart sank at Mogadon's words. "We're already stretchin' their loyalty with the order to not attack dragons. Thuggory also bein' a rider seems to have helped with that, and the promise of ridin' their own dragons has brought many of the holdouts into the fold. Tha' said, hidin' behin' closed doors when dragons come knocking? They'll see it as dishonorable, cowardly."

Hiccup sighed and muttered irritably. "Ugh, _Vikings_." Taking a breath, he squared his shoulders and looked Mogadon in the eye. "Regardless, it'll be best if there are as few combatants as possible. You're the chief, and a chief protects his own. Protect your people, Mogadon."

The look on Mogadon's face following this declaration was a combination of grudging respect and fury.

Thuggory looked between the two as they stared each other down, and stepped back.

The silence swelled, and Hiccup kept his eyes trained on Mogadon's, his had subconsciously reaching to pet Toothless' head before remembering that his friend was outside with Killer. He clasped both hands behind his back to disguise the movement. _Maybe I should have brought Toothless in, he'd be on my side_.

"Tell you what. I'll agree to this, if you agree to start training riders tomorrow. We'll see how your way works. Deal?"

 _Dammit_. Hiccup chewed the inside of his cheek as he considered this. He didn't exactly want to teach random Meatheads how to ride and fight on dragonback. Thuggory was one thing, he needed a few allies, and he _trusted_ Thuggory. But giving that kind of power to a single tribe was an invitation for disaster. He'd have to try and impress autonomy for riders or something.

"Deal."

* * *

Hiccup sat in the center of the Meathead's old dragon arena. The mid-morning sun was trying valiantly to pierce through the thick layer of clouds that covered the sky. One arm rested on Toothless' head, the other was busy using a stick to draw a likeness in the dirt. So focused was he on his task that he didn't even notice Toothless' rumble of greeting.

"Braids are hard to draw, I take it?"

At the sound of Thuggory's voice right in his ear, Hiccup started and nearly hit the heir in the face with his drawing implement. Thuggory leaned back to dodge and burst into laughter. "Whoa, I surrender. Please don't hurt me, dragon master."

Scowling at the grinning teen through his helmet's faceplate, Hiccup stood and surreptitiously rubbed out the half-finished drawing with his foot. Before he could retort with a carefully crafted verbal barb of his own, he heard the sound of excited chatter coming from the arena entrance. Thuggory's grin grew wider, and Hiccup felt a small amount of dread creep up his spine.

Thuggory turned towards the group of teenagers as they made their way into the ring, and settled into an imposing stance. In a booming voice he gave a familiar announcement, but with a very different meaning.

"Welcome to dragon training."

* * *

A/N: *cries* Schoooooool. What on earth possessed me to take 18 credit hours this semester. Next time I try to do this somebody hit me over the head with something.

In better news, Where the Winds Go has broken 50 favorites! And nearly 100 follows! That's nuts. Thank you all so much ;u;

An explanation of terms:  
- _mundr_ : a mundr is part of a 'bride-price' paid by the groom to the family of the bride in compensation for her leaving the household. Traditionally of similar value to the dowry, a mundr could consist of anything deemed valuable, such as silver, livestock, weapons, etc. A mundr had a minimum of 8-12 ounces of silver (depending on location and culture) which was a "poor-man's price." If a groom could not even muster that much, he was considered to have no hope of supporting a household and the marriage would be illegitimate according to law. (Source)  
-Erlend (ER-lehnd): I deliberated over the name Hiccup would choose for his masked persona for a loooooong time. I asked many people, and in the end 'Erlend,' meaning 'outsider,' was the final choice.

Replies:  
-Rogue Deity Master: Thank you!  
-DominicGrimm: Monty's greatness was part of the inspiration for this story, in no way do I claim to be anywhere near his level, haha. Thank you for the good luck wish, and I'm glad you have enjoyed. :)  
-Riverat73: Thank you, I'm very happy that you like it so far.  
-Guest: It's been hiding in the dreaded Swamp of Infrequent Updates Dx. Thank you very much, here's more!  
-Lord Revan Flame: Oh stop it n\\\\\n. Seriously thank you though, I'm glad you like it.  
-Surfy: Eeee! Criticism, yay! Chapter 3 was meant to be a little chaotic, but as my authors notes state: I have no idea what I'm doing, and evidently I didn't execute it terribly well. Great to see that you think I've improved though, go me :). I do have a problem with tending to rush things, though Luna is quite good at smacking me upside the head and making me rewrite it.

A huge thank you to my good friend luna1100 on tumblr for being my beta for this. Probably wouldn't have posted it without you.

Please send any and all constructive criticism, I've no idea what I'm doing. I really do enjoy getting reviews, feedback helps me out a great deal.

Thank you to all the reviewers and everyone who followed, favorited, or read. Thank you very much :)


	8. Forwards

**Chapter 8: Forwards**

Stumbling through the open door of Gothi's hut, Astrid grit her teeth and hissed in pain as she inched it shut and leaned back against it. Closing her eyes, she clutched her axe with trembling hands and greedily gulped air into her aching lungs. Her entire body felt as though she'd been bashed against the cliffs for hours on end, and the flaring pain in her shoulder nearly brought tears to her smoke-reddened eyes. As her breathing began returning to normal, she sank to her knees and slowly made her way to the small cot that had been her bed for the past few nights.

There was a rustling sound, small footsteps accompanied by a sharp wooden knock. _Gothi_. Astrid placed her axe to the side and let herself fall, landing on her left side with a grimace. Looking up, she saw Gothi's thunderous expression and withered beneath it. Opening her mouth to apologize, no words left her parched throat. She swallowed dryly and tried again to no avail, managing only a pained grunt.

Gothi bustled around hurriedly, gathering a bowl and ladling a small amount of already warm soup from the merrily bubbling pot set over her hearth. With a speed that belied her age and build, she was at Astrid's side and guiding the bowl to the exhausted teen's lips. Still wearing her disapproving scowl, she made sure that all the soup was gone before retreating back to the pot.

With a sigh of relief, Astrid licked her lips and spoke in a quiet voice. "Sorry… should have stayed… had to help." She cracked a smile at the irritated huff that was the only form of reply, and took the newly refilled bowl of soup when it was offered. Sipping the faintly chicken-flavored broth slowly, she sat up and gingerly unbuckled the armor covering her wounded shoulder.

Why there had been an attack so soon after the last one, Astrid couldn't fathom. _I suppose after weeks of peace we should have expected to be hit hard._ Berk was caught by surprise, and she—injury or no injury—had donned her armor and leapt into the fray. Despite being abnormally long, it was a fairly normal battle as far as battles went; some stuff blew up, a bunch of food was stolen, and the Dragon Master flew around and diligently ruined everything. She hadn't managed to get a good swipe at him this time as he had never landed, but she grudgingly admitted that with her shoulder still hurt, it might have been for the best.

 _Sneaking away from Gothi was probably the most dangerous part of the raid,_ she thought, as the older woman finished redressing her shoulder. After a moment of stillness, Gothi took her staff and 'gently' rapped Astrid over the head with it. Astrid, a rueful grin on her face, nodded and continued to drink her soup.

Rationally, Astrid knew that she really shouldn't push herself any further past the point of injury. Her shoulder was healing, and it had more function than it had yesterday. Granted, the wound was not as bad as it had looked or felt at first, but she still needed to take it easy and not go rushing off into strenuous situations.

As Astrid removed the rest of her armor, she reconciled with the fact that she would probably do exactly the same thing during the next raid, injury or no injury. Astrid Hofferson did not sit back as others fought for her home, she did not lie there as people she knew risked their lives.

 _But you did, remember?_ A small voice in her head sneered. _You let Hiccup die at the claws of that Night Fury that still rules the skies._

Astrid's mouth tightened into a thin line. She hated that little voice in her head. She knew it was right, but it had happened once, and it would never happen again.

* * *

The soft rays of the morning sun filtered through the wooden shutters of Gothi's hut. The small motes of dust floating lazily on the ribbons of light that fell upon Astrid's face were driven into a frenzied dance by her groggy, haphazard swipe of protest. No amount of irritated hand movements would dissuade the sun's wake-up call however, and, after scrunching up her face and grumbling at the unfairness of it all, she opened her eyes and forced her stiff and sore body to sit up.

With a huff of annoyance, Astrid stood and began stretching her aching limbs. Given her shoulder and the abnormally long fighting she wasn't exactly surprised, but she didn't have to like it. As her blood began flowing she could feel her muscles loosening, and an involuntary sigh of relief escaped her lips. As much as she didn't enjoy her reduced level of activity, sleeping in had its perks. A small smile weaved its way onto her mostly healed face, and she took a few moments to just be.

A tap on her shoulder brought Astrid out of her reverie. Beginning to undo the bandages on her shoulder with a slight frown, she turned to face Gothi and dropped down to one knee. The older woman smiled and took the old dressing, placing it off to the side and leaning in to inspect Astrid's wounded shoulder. Concentrating on her breathing, Astrid waited patiently and sent silent prayers that Gothi would let her go. It's not like she was a prisoner here, but Gobber's words of warning and Gothi's disapproval of any taxing physical activity had left her spending most of her time wandering the forest or thinking in Gothi's hut. She usually didn't spend so much time contemplating her actions, but Gobber's worry seemed to have rubbed off on her on this occasion, making her doubt herself.

 _Gobber…_ She needed to talk to him. He had seemed very worried after his conversation with Spitelout and Stoick. Having spent much of her time deliberating her options, Astrid had decided on trusting Gobber and working even harder to prove herself to those who believed her to be a dragon _sympathizer_ of all things. Dragons had caused her uncle Finn's death and family's disgrace, they had killed Hiccup, they attacked her home regularly, and she'd been fighting them since she could lift a bucket of water (much to the resigned terror and quiet pride of her mother). Now suddenly because she hasn't managed to kill a Night Fury, _which nobody has managed to do in Viking history, thank you very much_ , she was suddenly on their side?

Slowly rotating her shoulder at Gothi's mimed request, Astrid winced slightly. _Fine_. They wanted to 'observe' her to see what she did? Let them. She'd fought last night despite her injury, she and Ruff had even managed to net a Zippleback and secure it before the Dragon Master could show up and free it. Stoick had given her a tight but approving nod and Snotlout had immediately tried to chat her up again. She'd left him tied up to a torch.

As Astrid's shoulder was redressed, one thought that had become common resurfaced to eat away at her, refusing to be put down. The Dragon Master had saved her. She'd come to realize that it was irrefutable. She'd been falling, probably would have died given her condition, and he'd grabbed her and brought her back to Berk. And no matter how much she chewed it over, it simply didn't make sense. Dragons didn't save Vikings. _This one, and his rider, did._ Was the rider the difference? Maybe. Or perhaps the Night Fury recognized her and was trying to apologize? Could dragons even feel remorse?

Astrid shook her head and growled softly to herself, prompting a raised eyebrow from Gothi. Smiling at the healer, she inclined her head in thanks and spoke.

"So, am I free to go?"

Gothi nodded and scowled good-naturedly, gesturing to her shoulder. The meaning was pretty clear: 'Don't make it worse'.

Nodding and pushing an expression of sincerity on her face, Astrid conceded the point. "I'll be careful, I promise." She'd still fight in the next raid, and the knowing look on Gothi's face led her to quickly turn away and begin gathering up her armor. Donning each piece with practiced ease, she hefted her axe and made her way to the door.

"Thanks, for patching me up." Astrid turned and gave Gothi a small bow. The simple, kind smile in response coaxed out a smile of her own. One final nod in thanks, and she walked out into the not-quite-warm sunlight bathing the landing. The smell of smoke lingered over the village, and she could see people moving about and working to repair the damage.

Gobber would be in the forge.

Twirling her axe to expel the sudden excess of nervous energy, Astrid set off towards the village proper. The limited amount of time she'd been around Stoick hadn't been that bad. Granted she'd avoided him like the plague, but he hadn't sought her out to address the situation. She wasn't even supposed to know that there _was_ a situation. The lack of confrontation had done nothing to alleviate her apprehension, and with all the sitting around she'd done, she felt that something had to be done.

* * *

Gobber's work was a quiet affair. The loud clanging of metal on metal was still there, the wheeze of the bellows and the roar of the flames still complemented one another tit for tat, but things that should be there simply weren't. There was no whistling. No off-key singing. No sassy banter that came from the years of familiarity and friendship between master and apprentice. Gobber hammered away in silence, one job to the next. Occasionally he would find himself holding his hand out expectantly only to look up and sag noticeably. Astrid always tried to be looking somewhere else when that happened. Old habits die hard, she supposed.

As she approached the forge, Gobber's eyes rose to meet her own and Astrid felt a modicum of the tension that had been building up over the last couple of days wash away. His gaze was tired, but the smile that came with it was one of reassurance and comfort. She trusted him; he understood her pain and shared in it.

The smith nestled his current labor, some manner of arm-length, shallow metal trough, back into the glowing coals. Exchanging his detachable tongs for the more conversation-friendly mug, he gestured to the back of the smithy and ambled his way there himself.

Astrid followed with mild trepidation. She needed to talk to him, this she knew, but she needed someone to confide in. A smaller, more sinister part of her mind whispered stories of needing someone with influence on her side, but she shoved those thoughts down with brutal force. She didn't scheme, or avoid the enemy. No. She would prove that she was not sympathetic to the dragon cause, and that she would fight and kill any dragon and their allies… _Except_ …

"Glad ta see ye up an-" Gobber began as he sat down amongst the scattered papers strewn about the study, only to be interrupted.

"The Dragon Master saved my life." The statement hung in the air, lifting the proverbial weight from Astrid's chest. _Well that was easy_ , she thought to herself with a humorless mental laugh.

Blinking at the rather sudden outburst, Gobber nodded. "Aye, so Spitelout's boy says." He took a sip from his half-filled tankard before continuing. "The part where you're not denyin' it is interestin' though."

"It happened. I don't know why, and it makes no sense, but it did." Astrid shrugged. "I'm not a liar. Besides, I trust you. I need to talk about this with _someone,_ and you're probably my best choice."

With a grunt, Gobber gestured to the other readily available stool in a wordless invitation to sit. "Go on then, lass, I'm all ears."

Taking a deep breath, Astrid sat. She forewent setting her axe down, the familiar weight gave her a measure of comfort, of control. Instead, she opted to gaze at the intricately carved and etched patterns that adorned the weapon as she recounted the fight.

Throughout the tale, Gobber remained silent. He nodded where appropriate, took the occasional drink, and listened with rapt attention.

"…He kicked me in the chest and I lost my footing. Ended up falling over the cliffs half-unconscious." Astrid frowned at the memory. It was hazy, and as much as she had tried to recall every last detail, they continued to slip away. "It's all very fuzzy, but… I was falling, then I wasn't, then I woke up in Gothi's hut. The only possible explanation, barring the direct intervention of the gods, is that the Dragon Master grabbed me and brought me back to Berk."

Astrid forced her eyes, previously locked on her axe's blade, to look up at the pensive Gobber. "I almost killed him. I _should_ have killed him. I hesitated when he stopped his Night Fury from attacking me and got kicked off a cliff for my trouble. I'm not his _friend_ , I'm not on his side, why did he save me?"

Gobber raised his eyebrows and leaned forwards slightly. "You sure tha' ye aren' his friend? Take away the battle part and you two could be married with tha' kina behavior."

 _…Excuse me?!_ Astrid's face contorted with disbelief and outrage. Energy coursed into her limbs and she stood faster than she had thought possible, gripping her axe in one hand with such force that it trembled.

Before she could speak however, Gobber had raised both hands and flashed her a smile. "Alrigh' now, no need ta have a punch-up. I believe ya, lassie." With an apologetic grin, he motioned for her to return to her seat. "I had to ask. But yer reaction was pretty convincing. Look," he sighed, taking another drink from the nearly empty vessel, "the Jorgensons are up in arms over this. Stoick was jus' startin' to come round but now he is wary of ye as well. Again. The rumors 'ave already started to spread and they are only gonna get nastier. Yeh've got ta go about settin' things straight or it's not gonna matter whether you're tellin' the truth because nobody will believe that you are."

There was a loud, rhythmic banging in the front of the smithy that caused Astrid to jump. _Oh wonderful. Jumping at someone knocking on a door._ She leaned in, speaking quickly to maximize her limited time with Gobber's ear. "I'm going to refute his claims that I'm on their side, I think my reputation will have enough clout to pull that off." She hesitated for a second before forging on. "What do I do about the part where he _saved me_?"

"Eh, marry 'im. He's got a soft spot for ye, might be able to stop all this." Gobber stood and stretched, reaching out to lay his good hand on her shoulder. "Seriously though, it's probably best to just tell the truth: tha' you have no clue why."

With a final, encouraging nod, Gobber bid her farewell and went to deal with whomever was at the front. Astrid elected to stay in the safe space for a while longer. The muffled conversation faded into the background as she retreated into her own mind, her eyes lazily wandering around the slightly dusty room.

Much of the walls were lined with various tools and knick-knacks. Some shone brightly, others were rusted or broken beyond what Astrid considered salvageable. Other patches were relatively clutter-free but by no means barren, covered with sheets of parchment that sported all manner of technical drawings. Intricately detailed with notes written in a startlingly familiar hand. She recognized that hand; it had helped teach her how to read when she was younger.

 _Hiccup._

Standing abruptly, Astrid walked over to the parchment-strewn walls, her eyes widening at the designs that were so carefully sketched. Throwing machines, ideas for replacement limbs that were more than just lumps of wood, a very small sketch of what looked like a ribbed sail, and many more. Some were rough concepts; others were meticulously laid out construction plans with proposed measurements and everything. _You really were quite clever, weren't you?_ She thought, as she lightly ran her fingertips over one of the newer notes, chuckling lightly at the words written there.

'Latest prototype destroyed by Monstrous Nightmare after successful test. Upside: recalibration is no longer an issue.'

Astrid bowed her head, letting her hand fall to her side. For the millionth time, she apologized within the confines of her own mind, hoping that the gods would carry her message to Hiccup as he feasted in Valhalla. Or, at the very least, tell him he was missed.

After a few more moments of stillness, Astrid nodded absentmindedly to herself. Taking a breath, she gripped the haft of her axe tightly for a moment, as if to reassure herself that it was still there. _Come on, Astrid. You've got work to do._ With one last look and a sad smile, she backed out of the little back room.

And bumped straight into Stoick, who was engaged in casual conversation with Gobber.

There are tales told by warriors of times when time seems to slow to a crawl. Astrid herself had experienced this during her time facing dragons in battle. As Stoick turned towards her with eyebrows raised, she felt it again. She knew the reaction was absurd, Stoick was not one of those chief's that screamed at their tribe, nor one who ruled unjustly and sentenced disproportionate punishments for small transgressions. Nevertheless, her heartbeat quickened, her spine straightened, and she set her jaw with a smile that she sincerely hoped didn't seem too forced.

Stoick remained silent for several seconds. Gobber's eyes shot back and forth between the two, his eyebrows rising further as the silence dragged on.

When Stoick did speak, it was clipped, but polite. "Astrid."

"Chief." Astrid responded in kind with a slight bow. "Sorry about that. Gotta go."

Gobber watched as Astrid stiffly marched away. He understood the jittery attitude that had overtaken much of her now limited interactions with Stoick. _She shouldn't have to deal with anything like this,_ he thought as he turned back to his chief. _Her problems should involve men being boys, and dragons being dragons, not men (or whatever it was) riding dragons._

"I'm really not sure what te think about her, Gobber." Stoick's voice had taken on a subdued tone. "She has been so driven to avenge Hiccup, and rightly so. Now the Jorgensons claim that she sympathizes wi' the dragons, but I've yet to see anything like that from her. If she _was_ a sympathizer, she'd lie to cover it up, fight dragons to lull us into believing her." He looked up at his friend, the different beliefs warring in his eyes as he sought council. "Is she that good of a liar?"

With a roll of his eyes, Gobber shook his head. "I've been tellin' ye this whole time, Stoick: she's a young'n who couldn't beat a Night Fury."

Stoick's gaze hardened, his mouth opening to rebuke the point he knew Gobber was about to make.

Pointing his regrettably empty mug attachment at Stoick, Gobber spoke first. "Nuh-uh. You came ta me fer advice now shut up an' listen to it ya great big lug." Not even allowing the opportunity for an interruption, he pressed on. "As much as it hurts me too, Hiccup is gone. It's nae her fault. Had you yourself been there ye'd likely have _both_ died because you woulda been too stubborn to run when things went south."

A growl emanated from Stoick's vast frame. "Astrid is a capable warrior, if she supports the rider and its dragons, then she left my boy to die! If I had been there at least he would have made it out while I fought it off. We're Vikings, we protect the heir of the tribe, we don't leave him behind."

Gobber gave Stoick a pointed look. "'A chief protects his own' is what you're always sayin' isn't it? Hiccup was going to be chief one day, and he protected his own." Leaning forward and frowning, he felt his hackles beginning to rise. _Come on you yak-headed mountain, see sense._ "He _loved_ tha' girl. With all his tiny wee body, he loved her. Are you seriously tellin' me that had it been you and Valka in the same position, you wouldna' have done everything to make sure she got away safe?"

The argument Gobber had crafted, and was quite proud of mind you, only managed to anger Stoick further. "That's different! Hiccup had been doing well in the arena but he wasn't a fighter. Astrid is, but she ran!"

"Ran my right foot, she hobbled back here with a melted axe and a cracked skull. Tha's the Astrid I trained! She ain't run then, she ain't runnin' now. You just canna' see it because you're too blinded by your grief!"

"Both of which she coulda' gotten be cooperating with the Dragon Master! Melted axe, use the Night Fury. Cracked skull? Small wound to suffer in order to gain our trust."

"You really think she'd do tha'? Her parents would support tha'? Have you _met_ Astrid?!"

"The Hofferson's have nothin' to do with this, children do all sorts of things without their parent's knowing!"

"Yeh, runnin' out in the woods or nickin' extra candied nuts, not treason. She's not some conniving coward conspiring to carefully construct cordial charades calculated to cloak these claimed 'crimes'!"

Silence followed the particularly verbose statement, as Stoick looked incredulously at the slightly slack-jawed Gobber. A few seconds passed, before they both burst into hearty laughter. The tension that had lain thick in the air melted away in the face of their shared mirth.

"When, in Odin's name, did you change professions from a swordsmith to a wordsmith?"

"Ey, tha's yer twig of a boy's fault." Gobber clapped a hand on Stoick's shoulder and smiled. "He seems to 'ave rubbed off on me a wee bit." With a sigh, he offered a squeeze of comfort to his friend. "Look, Stoick, I miss him too. But ye canna' take it out on tha' poor girl, she beats herself up about it enough as is."

Stoick took a deep breath, and looked for a second like he was going to argue. Instead, he let it out in a wordless sigh, his mask falling to leave the weary, grieving father behind. "Yer righ' Gobber. Yer righ'."

A sympathetic grimace adorned Gobber's face as he wrapped his arm fully around Stoick's shoulders and began to lead him towards the main hall. "Come on, we'll drink to 'im."

Together they exited the smithy. Walking out into the sunlight, they headed up the hill to the largest hall on Berk. A drink - well, many drinks - lay in their future. Drinks, praise for a fallen boy, and, albeit slowly, healing as time marched ever onward.

* * *

"You should burn his hall down."

"Ohh. _Oh_. Better, let _us_ do it."

"Or at least watch."

"Is there a way we can involve chickens?"

"We could strap torches to them and have them run thr-"

"Okay stop!" Astrid's forceful but muted shout cut through the twins' rapid back and forth in a vain attempt to reintroduce some semblance of sanity. One or two nearby patrons of the hall gave her a look, but most paid them no mind. Shouting Vikings in during a meal, not like anybody had ever heard of that. "I'm not burning down the Jorgenson's hall, and _neither are you_. Or _you_ , for that matter."

Both twins visibly deflated at the notion of not being able to watch something burn. Astrid was fairly certain that they wouldn't have _actually_ done it, but better safe than singed. She took her half-eaten roll and chucked it at Ruffnut as she spoke.

"Guys, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don't want to burn Snotlout's house down."

In the face of two equally disbelieving looks, Astrid rolled her eyes and amended her statement. "Okay, I kinda do, just a little, but I'm not going to. I need to know what you guys think about this whole… thing."

Satisfied, if a little put out by that declaration, the twins looked at one another. Astrid was sure that an argument took place, even though no words were said. After a couple of seconds of conversational silence between the three of them, they looked at her with lightly furrowed brows and spoke.

"We believe you," Ruffnut started, "I'd take your word over Snotlout's any day."

"That said," Tuffnut supplied, "we've no idea what in hel is going on. Dragons, or the demon who rides them, don't help us."

"If you say you aren't on their side, again we believe you. But… we'd really like another explanation. Preferably one that makes sense, _Tuffnut_."

"Hey, an Astrid clone riding the Night Fury totally makes sense. You're just too dense to appreciate my genius."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out with a _bleh_ sort of noise, prompting a giggle from Astrid. Her expression sobered as the twins resumed eating, giving her expectant looks. Biting her lip, she idly flicked the last bit of chicken across her plate.

"I… don't know. I'm with you guys, it doesn't make any sense." Setting her jaw, Astrid looked up at the two others. "I don't know, but I want you two to help me find out."

Tuffnut, who had not just taken a rather large bite, nodded enthusiastically. "Great plan." After a second, his face adopted a look of confusion. "How do we do that?"

"I've gotten him on the ground before, we just have to net him." Astrid could see the fight happening in her mind's eye. Net flying over, one warrior separates the first threat from the second. _One head from another_. "We're going after two heads, same plan as a Zippleback. Net, one head down, then the other."

"Sounds fair." Said Ruffnut, "Except for the Night Fury part. Remember what happened last time? They creamed us, Astrid."

"Last time we hadn't netted them, we didn't expect it." Astrid gave them a reassuring grin before wolfing down her last morsel of food and standing to leave. "This time it'll be different."

As Astrid exited the hall doors into the midday sun, Ruffnut and Tuffnut sent one another loaded glances.

"I've got dibs on going after the rider."

"In your dreams, you're much more suited towards dragons, you look about the same."

"At least I don't look like what comes _out_ of a dragon after they eat."

"…"

"…"

"Race you."

"You're on."

* * *

The sun sank lower and lower to kiss the horizon, though slightly later, by Astrid's reckoning, than the last one she'd watched. The limited warmth gifted by the day had long since left the surface of the world, leaving her to don an extra fur or two to shield against the coming cold.

Astrid was unsure of what had drawn her to the promontory where Hiccup's grave lay. She could have watched for raid signs from anywhere, but she was here. The small pile of stones had gained a thin coating of greenery in the time since it was set by a mourning people. She was sure it would be interpreted as a sign of life moving forward, that even though Hiccup now sat in Valhalla, he wished for Berk to carry on. Hel, she knew things would move forward, she didn't need moss on cairn stones to tell her that. _Life just won't continue as it should have._

Her eyes rose from the marker, raking over the carved words as they travelled to gaze at the horizon. Taking a few steps forward, she braced the handle of her axe against the hard ground and lowered herself into a comfortable sitting position beside the grave. Part of her felt comforted by the position. If she closed her eyes and imagined, she could pretend that she hadn't failed, and he wasn't dead. That he was sitting there, taking a break between talking about something new he'd made. Maybe they would have gotten along better if she hadn't been so competitive, or if she had bothered to look past the 'useless' persona the village had constructed for him.

 _If if if_.

Then she'd open her eyes and reality would crash over her as ice water. _He is dead_. She didn't have to remind herself as often anymore, it had begun to sink in more permanently over time. On the few occasions that she did, the wave of guilt would swell, followed quickly by the flames of rage against the reptilian menace that still went unpunished.

As far as driving forces went, anger wasn't such a bad choice, she reasoned as she pulled a seeing crystal from her pouch. Anger leant you fire, strength, and a will to fight.

Bracing her arm on her knee, she held the crystal at eye level and peered through it, scanning the skies for any early signs of a raid. Truth be told, she wasn't expecting anything this early, dragons much preferred striking in the dead of night.

So sure was she that there would be nothing, she almost missed a shadow in the clouds. It was small, very far away, and most definitely _moving_.

Leaning forward and squinting as if it would help her focus, Astrid tried to bring more clarity to the shadow. Even at this distance she could tell that it was moving at a fair clip. If only it would come _closer_.

"What do you see, Astrid?"

The sound of a lowered voice close by startled Astrid. Abruptly the silence was overpowered by a roaring in her ears, and her legs shot out, propelling her forwards and away from the unexpected voice. Fingers wrapping around the handle of her axe as she snapped around, raising the weapon and readying herself for combat. Indignant words of reproach were in the process of leaving her lips when she froze.

Stoick's hearty laugh was something that didn't grace the ears of the Hooligans much anymore, but here it was. Astrid rapidly lowered her weapon and had the presence of mind to look sheepish.

"Sorry, didna' mean to startle you." His face returned to an awkward seriousness, and he jutted his chin out towards the sea. "Whaddid ye see?"

"…I'm not really sure. It's just a shadow in the clouds, can't see anything clearly." Differences or not, they both wanted to protect their home. Astrid's mind took on a more businesslike bent, and she turned back, raising the crystal to peer into the distance once again. After a few seconds of searching, she found the shadow again. It had moved further south, and slowed considerably, seeming to move in a circle.

Frowning and offering the crystal to Stoick, Astrid began thinking out loud. "It's a ways away, can't see it without the crystal. It's not getting closer, more like… maintaining a distance. Like it's watching or waiting."

With grunted assent, Stoick took a look for himself, quickly finding the shadow and coming to the same conclusion as Astrid. "It's odd tha' there's only one, it doesn't make se-" He froze midsentence. His head unconsciously moving slightly forwards in an effort to gain a better view, he growled. "There's another one. Right beside the first, but this one is less carful." He lowered the crystal and handed it back to Astrid, a grim expression clouding his face. "Nightmare tail. Tip fell through the bottom of the cloud layer just for a moment, but it's there."

 _Nightmare. Crap._ "Don't suppose we can hope it's just the two of them, can we?" Looking through the crystal again, Astrid watched as the shadows circled one another before coming to a hovering standstill.

A short bark of laughter preceded Stoick's reluctant agreement. "No, we can't. We better start getting the livestock put away, at least we have a bit of warning thi-"

"Wait." Normally Astrid wouldn't interrupt Stoick, and if she was honest with herself she was surprised that she had. The two dragons had taken off towards the southeast, _away_ from Berk, at a rapid pace. She followed their movement, and they exited the clouds. Her eyes widened. _No, no no, we don't need this._

Licking her lips, Astrid spoke. "Night Fury. Dragon Master… and a friend on a Nightmare. There are two riders." She tightened her grip on the haft of her axe, and Stoick muttered a curse. _Two riders… they're flying southeast. They're flying away, southeast._ The spark of an idea began to form as they riders dove into another cloudbank and were lost to view.

"I wanna go after them."

Stoick raised his eyebrows and looked at the young woman. "You want to take a ship out, to _chase_ the riders?"

"We have a heading now!" Astrid's voice was getting louder and faster as she spoke, her excitement at the prospect of going on the offensive rising. "We know that they aren't always with the dragon swarms, and we know the direction of whatever hole they slither into when they aren't attacking us." A huge grin split her face. "We can take the fight to _them_. Cut off the scheming head." _Get that Night Fury._

"Astrid, if there are two of 'em, the riders, how do you know there aren' more?"

Not letting the logic put a damper on her spirits, Astrid quickly fired back. "How likely is that? We've only ever seen the Dragon Master itself during the raids. There's a second one now, and if it's recruiting then wouldn't it be best to attack now?"

After a moment's hesitation, she spoke again. "Chief. I want to clear my name. This is important to me, and would be beneficial to Berk were we to succeed. Please."

Stoick looked her right in the eye, then. Astrid could see the metaphorical wheels turning in his mind. The calculated risk that she was proposing running through his head. He nodded once, and spoke.

"Volunteers only, if you can't get more than ten you aren' goin'. I'll call a war council meeting tomorrow, you can present yer case there."

The third chuckle of the evening rumbled through Stoick's chest at the fierce, happy look that overtook Astrid's face. The apprehensive energy that had given her jitters throughout the day began to flow, lending her strength. Now that once disruptive energy had purpose, direction. And as Stoick turned to walk back into the village, she looked to the southeast.

 _I'm coming for you, Night Fury._

* * *

A/N: You know who shouldn't say words? Me. Like Ever.

I'm sorry it's been so long, things... happened. And that's the worst reason ever I know. Over the past couple of days lightning struck, and this chapter and most of the next one came out of it. Gods do I hope that you all enjoy them.

I will reiterate here that unless the story has a great big ***ABANDONED*** sign on the front of it, it isn't abandoned. It might be a while between updates sometimes due to school, work, or my own personal stupidity, but if there is no abandoned sign and it's not marked as complete, then it's not over.

...Sorry, guys.

Replies:  
-Surfy: Glad to see you think I'd improved, shame that the update had to take so ruddy long. And yes, 18 is an insane amount... though the last two semesters have been 20 and 19 respectively. Oops.  
Guest: Thank you very much! I'm glad too, Hiccup needed a couple more allies if he was going to have a decent shot at getting anything to change.  
-TheGreatLordDragon: I'm happy that you've enjoyed. Is it similar? It's harder for me to tell because it's mine and all that, but that's very flattering. And keeping them in character is one of my larger struggles I think, so thank you very much! ^^  
-Ulcaasi: Thank you, I do enjoy the sub-genre myself, though this story has changed a _tad_ from it's original concept.  
-Anonymous Noob: Thanks for the compliment. To clarify why Hiccup 'pushed' Astrid off the cliff, he didn't mean to at all. The intention of the segment was to convey that the fight was chaotic, and that neither of them were in nearly as much control as they would be comfortable with. Hiccup hit her wounded shoulder because he knew he had to use that edge or he wasn't getting out of that without Toothless attacking Astrid himself. The pain from that caused her arm to give out when she caught herself leading to disorientation from hitting her head, that plus the slipperyness of the rocks is why she fell. It was much more accident than by design.  
-Nymiir: HAH, if you say so! Nah, for real, thank you :)  
-Septimus714: Here you go, my friend, tad late but better than not at all :)  
-pokeperson01: It's far too much to hope but I do hope that you're still excited, haha. I'm delighted that you've enjoyed so far.  
-ChimaTigon: Right now!  
-dl-o-lb: I knooooooow, I'm sorry! Here's an update though  
-Guest: Oh good lordie so do I, the inspiration to continue would be a welcome sight around my dusty brain.

A huge thank you to my good friend luna1100 on tumblr for being my beta for this. Definitely wouldn't have posted it without you.

Please send any and all constructive criticism, I've no idea what I'm doing. I really do enjoy getting reviews, feedback helps me out a great deal.

Thank you to all the reviewers and everyone who followed, favorited, or read. And thank you very much for sticking with the story despite it's issues, and my inability to write :)


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